Golf Course Review: The Club at Irish Creek in Kannapolis, NC
By Ed Donlin
The Club at Irish Creek in Kannapolis, NC
formed from the original Cannon Country Club
originally designed and built in 1954 by a group
of textile employees from Cannon Mills.
The nine-hole course was built around
Kannapoils Lake which was the water supply for
the city and textile mill. A few years later
another nine holes were added. The name of
the club has changed three times in it's 56 year
history. After the Cannon company was sold,
the name was changed to Kannapoils Country
Club and when the club was completely rebuilt
by Davis Love in 2007, the name was changed
to The Club at Irish Creek.
LAYOUT & DESIGN
Love restored the front nine to the original
routing with some added length. The back
nine was modified with holes 10-13 and 15
being completely new holes and the remaining
four holes were modified to fit with the new
architecture.
The 400-acre Kannapolis Lake can be seen
from all but two holes on the course and the
lake comes into play on eight of the holes. The
course has rolling hills but is very walkable and
has a large number of walkers. The heavily-
contoured greens are an A1-A4 bent grass
blend and the tee boxes and fairways are
TiftSport Bermuda. We have a large practice
area and there is a six hole Par 3 course
incorporated into the range that can be used
for special events.
ACCOLADES & AWARDS
The course hosts a number of events,
including the First Stage of PGA Tour Qualifying
School, the North Carolina Open, the North
Carolina Mid-Amateur, U.S. Amateur Qualifying,
the eGolf Tour Southern Open, and the Irish
Creek Collegiate Championship.
Irish Creek has also received a number of
Awards including being ranked the No. 30 Best
Residential Course in America by Golfweek in
2010 and rated the No. 9 Best New Course in
America by Golfweek in 2008.