Lonnie Poole Golf Course at NC State with its Research and Training Facility and Clubhouse will cover approximately 200 acres and be positioned on the southernmost portion of Centennial Campus, easily accessible from Interstate 40. These facilities will support the academic and athletic needs of the university, and will also benefit the community by providing a beautiful public golf course and creating an environmentally-friendly neighbor for the area.The golf course and research & training facility serve as the home for the Men’s and Women’s Golf Teams; Focal point for critical research, teaching, and extension programs within the Colleges of Natural Resources, and Agriculture and Life Sciences; Central laboratory for NC State’s prestigious Turfgrass Management and Professional Golf Management Programs (PGM).
The Lonnie Poole Golf Course at NC State University has unique features that set it apart from other courses in the region. It represents the evolution in golf course architecture towards sustainability; a golf course that fits into and protects the natural environment. As with Bethpage Black, Bandon Dunes, Whistling Straits, and Pine Valley, it leans heavily on traditional Scottish designs while accommodating the natural landscape.
The Design. The Arnold Palmer Design group used features in the existing landscape as the primary cues for their design. Located on 250 acres inside the city of Raleigh, the golf course routing is dictated by large elevation changes. It meanders around large buffer areas that were left in place to protect streams and wetlands that are in the Neuse River watershed. The buffers provide protected habitat for wildlife and native plant species. Erik Larsen and Brandon Johnson, both graduates of the NC State College of Design, were the lead architects.
A golf course is long overdue State and a fundamental component for both the PGM and turfgrass programs as they strive to maintain national prominence.
