A Destination Golf Experience
Tot Hill Farm Golf Club is evolving into a bucket list golf destination experience as architect Mike Strantz intended. From the moment Strantz set foot on this property he knew this place was extra special. With his creativity at a fever pitch, a canvas that featured mountainous terrain with tons of movement, and his favorite horse by his side, Strantz left this quiet town a golf course that is anything but.
Mike’s intent on providing visually stunning and challenging designs came from his hero of golf course architecture, Dr. Alistair MacKenzie. From MacKenzie’s book The Spirit of St. Andrews, he noted, ‘It frequently happens the best holes give rise to the most bitter controversy. It is largely a question of the spirit in which the problem is approached, depending on the player. Whether he looks at it from the ‘card and pencil’ point of view and condemns anything that disturbs his steady series of 3’s or 4’s, or whether he approaches it in the ‘spirit of adventure.’ Tot Hill Farm is 100% adventure, yet as Strantz stated, is extremely playable for all skill levels.
Enjoy the day surrounded by breathtaking beauty. Soak up the precious time with your friends, and don’t look at the day from the ‘card and pencil’ point of view. Go. Make memories instead. The Unforgettable Starts Here.
Strantz on Playing Tot Hill Farm
Mike Strantz discusses how playable Tot Hill Farm is, as well as how golfers can navigate their way around for a good score.
The Unforgettable Starts Here
The Restoration Project
We are not golf architects and felt strongly the design by Mike Strantz should stay not be changed. Therefore, we took great care in restoring the course back to its look on opening day 2000. The overall restoration of Tot Hill Farm will come in various stages. Phase 1 priorities were to resurface all 18 greens with Prizm Zoysia, convert the 150+ year old farmhouse to the clubhouse, clean up items that affected grass growth on several tee boxes and greens, level and sod teeing areas, repair cart path damage, and repair several bridges. The new greens feature a new zoysia variety developed by Bladerunner Farms that has the ability to grow-in very quickly, has no collar transition to manage, only needs half the mowing of typical greens, is very shade and cold weather tolerant, needs 50% less chemical application, and heals very quickly from ball marks.
Design on Horseback
Strantz and Fezler set aside utility vehicles for the construction of the course, instead opting to work on horseback. And, dogs Zoysia, Oakley and Happy Dog weren’t far behind. This is the one and only course Strantz built riding his favorite horse, Scout. The result was one of the most breathtaking and scenic courses in the southeast.