Fred Couples remains one of the game’s most glamorous and popular players after nearly 25 years on the PGA Tour. That’s why Bluegreen Golf signed up the former Masters champion for its latest golfing development in North Carolina – Chapel Ridge. Set on beautiful rolling terrain in Chatham County outside of Pittsboro, Chapel Ridge will be the second Couples signature course in the Tar Heel state, joining Carolina National in coastal Southport. The 18-hole signature course was hand-picked by Couples and is expected to open this fall. Couples, a 15-time winner on Tour, talked recently with award-winning sportswriter David Droschak about Chapel Ridge. How would you describe the Chapel Ridge development site? It’s absolutely incredible from the standpoint of the terrain being up and down. Owners are going to get some incredible homesites here. On the golf side, a lot of shots go up and down the hills, really making it challenging and fun. Some people that normally hit a drive 220 will hit it 270 on some holes and you may see some holes that are 380 yards play extremely long because they are gradually uphill. It took about two holes to figure out this is a pretty special property.
You say doing a signature golf course is “a ball” for you. Why? That’s because I’m not out there banging down doors to do this for a living. I stay very fresh doing one or two courses a year.
What’s difficult about being involved with a signature golf course? There’s a lot of pressure on you. Any time I go somewhere and get involved I can’t really turn around halfway through a project and say, ‘Wow, it’s a failure.’ The last two courses I’ve done for Bluegreen have been home runs and this one is going to be just as good. All of North Carolina is booming and some of the best courses you can play are in this state. This is going to be one of them.
Why do you limit the number of golf courses you have helped design? As a player I am not one to just go get a job and go do it. I like to hand pick the property and the area. So, every course I do is extremely special to me and it needs to be good. When they become no good then I need to stop. If you go slowly enough and you pay attention and you get the right team behind you it’s almost hard to fail. But I’m not out there to do 200 golf courses in my life. I’m out there to do maybe 50 or 60 and that will be over 30 years.
What is your main job at Chapel Ridge? The input I have here is all vision. I will be the first to tell you that if this property was full of trees I couldn’t route this golf course. I would have the sun going in your face on the 18th hole, I would have the clubhouse in the wrong spot. My job is to work with fellow architect Bob Moore and tell him I think this green should slope this way or I think there should be a bunker here or there. The last thing I want to do is come here and have a puzzle that is going to take two years to figure out.
Why have you hooked up with Bluegreen Golf again? For one thing, if you get into a car and drive out here you would say the golf course just fits right in. Environmentally, these guys are the best. They do everything bullet proof. Sometimes when you build a course the lots are more important than the golf. As a golfer I fight that, so you have to meet halfway. The Bluegreen people meet me more than halfway. They want a very playable course and that’s what you are going to get here.
What will golfers remember when they play Chapel Ridge? The vistas are incredible. If you go hiking you want to see mountain ranges. The same thing is true here only in golfing terms. When you golf, you want to see beauty. You’ll be able to take your mind off the game and look around here – and have fun.
Why did you take so much time off in the second half of last season? I wanted to get away from the game and figure a few things out, whether this is really what I want to do the rest of my life. I never want to stop playing, but I need to figure out if I can practice hard enough to keep playing with guys like Davis Love or Phil Mickelson and do it for a period of time. If I can’t, then it becomes no fun. I have been able to play for a long time, but I just wish I could have played better the last four or five years. It’s been a little bit of a downer, but that comes with time. Not everyone is blessed to be able to do what they want for a long period of time.
Does being a Ryder Cup captain interest you? I would love to be the Ryder Cup captain. I don’t think it’s a thankless job. You have to take a beating in anything you do. I’m a huge PGA Tour guy because I like the players. If we can get 12 guys together that would pull together to represent the country and I could be the captain that would be a dream job.
You were pretty good doing some color commentary a few years back.. What’s your golf broadcasting future? Until I physically can’t play I don’t want to take time away from golf because TV is remarkable hours. I didn’t realize that when a telecast comes on at 2 p.m. they want you there at 11 a.m. Three hours early is a difficult thing, but it was rewarding and I actually learned a lot watching the guys play. I learned that not every shot is perfect from the leaders. When you see that and see the strain on their faces you learn that it’s not a piece of cake. Golf is a game where you really can’t get down on yourself.
