George William Cobb, (July 2, 1914 – January 15, 1986) was a notable and prolific golf course designer who created the Par-3 course at Augusta National Golf Club among more than one hundred courses and renovated many, including his own early work. He strove to create attractive layouts that the average golfer would find enjoyable, not frustrating."George Cobb story" Oak Island Golf Club.Finley, Thomas:"The Evolution of Golf Course Design" Golf In The Upstate - Since 1895.
Biography Early life Cobb was born into a family of golfers in Savannah, Georgia, learned to play as a child and was a scratch golfer. He had an older brother, W.E. and a younger sister, Mary A."1930 Federal census" Ancestry.com. Cobb attended the University of Georgia, where he played on the college golf team. He studied landscape architecture and graduated in 1937. He was hired by the National Park Service and worked as a landscape architect until 1941.
Military During World War II, Cobb was a Marine Corps engineering officer at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Because he was an avid golfer and landscape architect, he was assigned the task of constructing a golf course for use in physical rehabilitation of injured GIs, but he had no experience in course design. Cobb was permitted to hire experienced course architect Fred Findlay to provide design assistance. Cobb handled the construction superintendent responsibilities on this and a subsequent course at Lejeune. In 1946, Cobb designed and built the course at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point on his own, then was discharged from the Marines during 1947.
Vocation After the experience provided by the military, Cobb decided that he enjoyed building golf courses. He started his own golf design business and created six courses, but when the Korean War escalated, he was recalled to active duty in 1951. Released from service, Cobb initially moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina and was working on the Country Club of Sapphire Valley when he was hired to build the Green Valley Country Club. While working on Green Valley in the spring of 1956, he was offered and accepted a position as a director of Hollyridge Corporation, the developer. He and his family settled in Greenville, South Carolina, where they remained. In 1958 he was named general manager of the club, but resigned when his design business proliferated during 1960, when he had eight South Carolina courses under construction or being designed.
Augusta Cobb's shortest course may actually be his most prominent creation. Cobb was design consultant at Augusta National Golf Club from the mid-1950s and became good friends with Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts, chairman of Augusta National. The club decided to add a par 3, nine-hole course in 1958, which Alister MacKenzie had suggested in the 1930s. Cobb was asked to design it with input from Roberts, and the 1,060 yard "little course" opened in 1959. The Par-3 Contest has been held on Wednesday of Masters week since 1960. In fifty years of Masters play, no one has ever won the Par-3 and the main tournament in the same week.Walker, Mike: "At the Masters Par-3 Contest, everyone's a winner" Golf magazine, April 9, 2009. Cobb added a fresh touch to the "big course" in 1967 and 1977. The only other Par 3 course Cobb ever designed was at Vestavia Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama.
Associate John LaFoy grew up in Greenville, and was close friends with Cobb's son, George, Jr. LaFoy studied architecture and graduated from Clemson University in 1968. He apprenticed with George Cobb before the Vietnam War forced him into the service. Like Cobb, LaFoy chose the Marine Corps. After his discharge, LaFoy returned to work with Cobb, and in 1971, he became Cobb's partner. They collaborated on every subsequent course the firm built, and when Cobb's health began to fail in the early 1980s, he ran the company. After Cobb's death in 1986, LaFoy continued designing and remodeling courses, and in 1999, he served as president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects.
Personal While he was stationed at Camp LeJeune, Cobb married and had a son, George, Jr. and a daughter, Virginia.
Courses designed The following table is a (partial) list of courses that George Cobb either designed alone (prior to 1971) or co-designed with John LaFoy."George Cobb - Courses Built" World Golf.
Click arrow box in column heading to sort by that attribute.
Facility Name Access City State BuiltEast Lake Golf ClubPrivateAtlantaGA1963Coosa Country ClubPrivateRomeGA1961Cane Creek Golf CoursePublicFort McClellanAL1942Gold at Paradise Point Golf CourseMilitaryCamp LejeuneNC1945Paradise Point Golf Club (Gold course)MilitaryCamp LejeuneNC1945Cherry Point Golf ClubPrivateCherry PointNC1946Green Valley Country ClubPrivateGreenvilleSC1955Fort Mill Golf ClubSemi-PrivateFort MillSC1948Fort Jackson Golf CourseMilitaryColumbiaSC1949Wildcat at Fort Jackson Golf ClubMilitaryFort JacksonSC1949Carmel Country Club (North course)PrivateCharlotteNC1950Lake/Cedar at Greenwood Country ClubPrivateGreenwoodSC1950University of North Carolina Finley Golf CourseSemi-PrivateChapel HillNC1951Jacksonville Country ClubPrivateJacksonvilleNC1951High Hampton Inn & Country ClubResortCashiersNC1956University of Maryland Golf CourseSemi-PrivateCollege ParkMD1956Fort Eustis Golf ClubMilitaryFort EustisVA1956Parks at Courses at Fort MeadeMilitaryFort MeadeMD1956Glenn Dale Country ClubSemi-PrivateGlenn DaleMD1956Laurel Pines Country ClubPublicLaurelMD1956Laurel Country ClubPublicLaurelMD1957JC Long Estate Golf ClubSemi-PrivateMount PleasantSC1957Vestavia Country ClubPrivateBirminghamAL1958Willowhaven Country ClubSemi-PrivateDurhamNC1958Raleigh Golf Association (9)PublicRaleighNC1958Country Club of Sapphire ValleyPrivateCashiersNC1956Lakeside Golf ClubPublicAtlantaGA1960The Nine Hole at Augusta National Golf ClubPrivateAugustaGA1960Green Island Country ClubPrivateColumbusGA1960Surf Golf & Beach ClubPrivateNorth Myrtle BeachSC1960Vestavia Country Club-Par 3 CoursePrivateBirminghamAL1960Quail Hollow ClubPrivateCharlotteNC1961Spring Valley Country ClubPrivateColumbiaSC1961Sea Pines Resort (Sea Marsh course, renamed Heron Point)ResortHilton Head IslandSC1961Deerwood ClubPrivateJacksonvilleFL1961Berkeley Country ClubSemi-PrivateMoncks CornerSC1961Mountain Valley Golf CourseSemi-PrivateWaynesvilleNC1961Oak Island Golf ClubSemi-PrivateCaswell BeachNC1962Wildcat Cliffs Country ClubPrivateHighlandsNC1962Windsor Forest Country ClubPrivateSavannahGA1962Hound Ears ClubResortBooneNC1963Dublin Country ClubPrivateDublinGA1963Gainesville Golf & Country ClubPrivateGainesvilleFL1963Botany Woods Golf ClubPrivateGreenvilleSC1963Timuquana Country ClubPrivateJacksonvilleFL1963Milledgeville Country ClubPublicMilledgevilleGA1963Mountain Glen Golf CourseSemi-PrivateNewlandNC1963Waynesboro Country ClubPrivateWaynesboroGA1963Doublegate Country ClubPrivateAlbanyGA1964Ocean Point at Fripp Island ResortResortFripp IslandSC1964Barony at Port Royal Golf ClubPrivateHilton Head IslandSC1964Eighteen Hole at Indian Lake Estates Golf & Country ClubSemi-PrivateIndian Lake EstatesFL1964Rolling Hills Country ClubPrivateMonroeNC1964High Meadows Golf & Country ClubPrivateRoaring GapNC1964Croasdaile Country ClubPrivateDurhamNC1965Adventure Inn Golf ClubResortHilton Head IslandSC1965Robber's Row at Port Royal Golf ClubPrivateHilton Head IslandSC1967Sharon Golf ClubPrivateSharon CenterOH1965Wrenwoods Golf Club at Charleston Air Force BaseMilitaryCharlestonSC1966Clarksville Country ClubPrivateClarksvilleTN1966Cabarrus Country ClubPrivateConcordNC1966Burningtree Country ClubPrivateDecaturAL1966Myrtlewood Golf Club (Pines Course)PrivateMyrtle BeachSC1966Forest Heights Country ClubPrivateStatesboroGA1966Sea Pines Resort (Ocean course)ResortHilton Head IslandSC1967North Ridge Country Club (Lakes course)PrivateRaleighNC1967Sea Palms Golf & Tennis Resort (Tall Pines course)ResortSaint Simons IslandGA1967Sea Palms Golf & Tennis Resort (Great Oaks course)ResortSaint Simons IslandGA1967Hunter Golf ClubMilitarySavannahGA1967Mary Calder Golf ClubPublicSavannahGA1967Twin Falls Resort State ParkResortMullensWV1968Santee Cooper Country ClubSemi-PrivateSanteeSC1968Pine Tree Country ClubPrivateBirminghamAL1969Country Club of CharlestonPrivateCharlestonWV1969Star Fort National Golf CoursePrivateNinety SixSC1969Edgewood Country ClubPrivateSissonvilleWV1969Browns Mill Golf CourseMunicipalAtlantaGA1970Pope AFB Golf CourseMilitaryFayettevilleNC1970Clipper/Galleon at Shipyard Golf ClubResortHilton Head IslandSC1970Brigantine/Clipper at Shipyard Golf ClubResortHilton Head IslandSC1970Galleon/Brigantine at Shipyard Golf ClubResortHilton Head IslandSC1970Spanish Wells ClubPrivateHilton Head IslandSC1970Warrior's Path State Park Golf CoursePublicKingsportTN1970Snee Farm Country ClubPrivateMount PleasantSC1970Fort McClellan Golf ClubMilitaryFort McClellanAL1971Goose Pond Colony Golf CoursePublicScottsboroAL1971Red Wing Lake Golf CoursePublicVirginia BeachVA1971Brookfield West Golf & Country ClubPrivateAtlantaGA1972Connestee Falls Golf CourseSemi-PrivateBrevardNC1972The Resort at Glade SpringsResortDanielsWV1972Stonebridge Golf CoursePublicLakelandTN1972Cleghorn Plantation Golf & Country ClubPublicRutherfordtonNC1972Eisenhower College Golf Course (9)PrivateSenecaNY1972Bald Head Island Country ClubSemi-PrivateSouthportNC1972Glade Springs Country ClubPrivateBeckleyWV1973Inverness Country ClubPrivateBirminghamAL1973StillWaters Golf Club - The Legend CoursePrivateDadevilleAL1973Holly Tree Country ClubPrivateGreenvilleSC1973Bryan Park Players CoursePublicBrowns SummitNC1974Frank G. Clemment Golf ClubSemi-PrivateDicksonTN1974Nine Hole Par 3 at Indian Lake Estates Golf & Country ClubSemi-PrivateIndian Lake EstatesFL1974Stonebridge Golf CoursePublicMemphisTN1974Cobb's Glen Country ClubSemi-PrivateAndersonSC1975Woodlands Golf & Country ClubPrivateColumbiaSC1975Clemson University Golf CourseSemi-PrivateClemsonSC1976The Tides Inn (Golden Eagle course)ResortIrvingtonVA1976Mountwood Park Golf CourseSemi-PrivateWaverlyWV1977Keowee Key Golf & Country ClubPrivateSenecaSC1977New Quarter Park Golf ClubSemi-PrivateWilliamsburgVA1977Pohick Bay Golf CoursePublicLortonVA1978Mallard Head Country ClubSemi-PrivateMooresvilleNC1979Heddle's Hideaway Country ClubSemi-PrivateSpartanburgSC1979Linville Ridge Country ClubPrivateLinvilleNC1983North/East at Athens Country ClubPrivateAthensGA1985Sanctuary Golf ClubPrivateBeaufortSC1985Cat Island Country ClubPrivateBeaufortSC1985Tartan Golf ClubResortWeemsVA1958
References
External links
Further reading Golf In The Upstate - Since 1895, The Biography of George Cobb with Mark William Shaw, published by McGraw-Hill, March 1999 GeorgeCobb.com - Official website