“It’s usually a five-year plan if you’re really going to do it right, and we’re doing what we hope will be one of the finest courses in the world,” he said.
Today, catching up with him at his Florida office, Savidge says things are moving along nicely. In fact, construction at White Oak Plantation is well underway.
“We have most of the dirt moved for the golf course,” he says, explaining that the first half of the course is being built now. The golf course at White Oak Plantation sits in a valley, which will be surrounded by vineyards. Dirt removed for terracing the vineyards is being used on the course — a handy arrangement. The vineyards themselves are all cut and terraced, and Savidge says they’re hoping to plant soon. Completed, the vineyards will yield Chardonnay grapes, which may go to the nearby Biltmore estate, locally famous for its wine and grand facilities.
Land for both the course and home sites has already been cleared, and the newly emerged white oaks, red oaks, and beeches have made for an incredibly stately, Southern setting. Meanwhile, the dogwoods and azaleas — already in bloom — have turned the construction site into a truly pastoral scene. “Now that the dirt’s been moved, you can visualize the shots,” Savidge says. “From the tee down to the valley, the second shot from the knoll over the crest to the green… It’s really exciting stuff.”
Savidge is already planning strategies as well: “On two, across the wetland from the landing area to the green, you can really see it and visualize how you might want to work the ball left to right. And on nine, you’ve got the water on the other side… Well, there’s potential disaster all around.”
That said, Savidge adds that the course should offer something for everyone.
“It plays a little easier than it looks because of the things [Palmer] does. It’s the subtleties. He’s got it figured out; a wonderful job.”
Creating a golf course development involves more than just the actual course, and as APDC moves toward its Premier series of courses, it’s taking more of a hand in monitoring the accompanying infrastructure to ensure everything is absolutely top shelf. The sales center and guardhouse at White Oak Plantation are up and running. The entrance is landscaped and bordered with a rock wall, the electric gates are going in and finishing touches to the development’s approach are being completed. As for the housing, Savidge says 85 lots are now open for sale, with underground utilities, electric, water and fiber optic lines in place for each home.
“That will be a box on your house where you can plug in your phone, high-speed Internet, cable TV — everything comes over that fiber optic,” he says. “You’ll have high speed connection to whatever the future brings.”
It is still too early to be able to provide an exact date as to when White Oak Plantation will be fully open. There’s grass to be grown, greens to be built and memberships to be issued. Not quite finished yet, but a long way from raw land and pencil sketches. Just one more step in the years it takes to build a course that will last many lifetimes, even if it only takes a few hours to play.
Keep track and find out more about White Oak Plantation at www.whiteoaktryon.com.