Fort Bragg Officer's Golf Course AKA Ryder Golf Course 1930 (holes 1-18 posted)

[Richard Hetzel]

Fort Bragg Officer’s Golf Course AKA Ryder Golf Course
1930
Architect - C.C. McCusion (there was an alternate spelling I also found, but the course officially goes by the name McCusion.
Built in 1930 as Camp Bragg was growing, the Fort Bragg Officer’s Golf Course was originally 27 holes and lies within the Fort Bragg “Old Post Historic District.” During the 1960’s, nine holes were destroyed to make way for new military housing. The Ryder Course does not have the Donald Ross pedigree of its sister course, The Stryker Golf Course. It may however, be the better maintained course on base. Present day, the Stryker Golf course is much easier to access as it does not require one to stop at the main gate to get a pass in order to access the base proper. The first aerial photos of the course were taken in 1933, and I found it very difficult to find out any information about the course’s architect of record, C.C. McCusion. During my round there last week  I noticed that there had been some renovations done fairly recently. I was able to locate a lengthy pdf document from the North Carolina State Department of Cultural Resources (State Historic Preservation Office) which was very interesting as it was concentrated on preserving The Old Post District on base. Maybe the architect who did this renovation work could chime in here? It looks like the base spent $1.2 million in updating playing surfaces and irrigation in 2022-23 according to a news article that I found online.

I really enjoyed my 18 hole walk here. I was expecting a tight, tree infested, not well taken care of course, but it was just the opposite. The land was rolling, Spring had sprung, the dormant grass was almost completely awake, and it had some elevation here and there, the course tips out at 6415 yards, and pace of play was great, just 3 hours total. The course is short for today’s long hitters, but for me, length is to be ignored anyway. This course is without pedigree, but it is a super fun golf course. I paid just $14.00 to walk 18 holes. In my opinion, it's worth the hassle of obtaining a visitor's pass to play it. It was a pleasant surprise to a quick trip to NC to play Occoneechee, Duke, UNC Finley, Lonnie Poole, Hyland, Pinehurst No. 1 and the Cradle. I just may have preferred it to all of those aforementioned courses.








Hole No. 1:
Par 4 409 yards, ever so slight, downhill dogleg right hole sandwiched between the driving range on the left and hole number 18 on the right.

[Sven Nilsen]

There is more likely a good bit more to this story.  Ross was there in the early 1920's laying out a 9 hole course for the officers.


Jan. 5, 1922 Pinehurst Outlook -

[Daryl "Turboe" Boe]

I played both Ft. Bragg courses last fall, the difference in conditions were dramatic.  I think the Stryker course outside the gate (the enlisted man's course) has some Donald Ross origins, and good bones.  I think it would be a great candidate for restoration and some TLC.

[Brian Finn]

I played both Ft. Bragg courses last fall, the difference in conditions were dramatic.  I think the Stryker course outside the gate (the enlisted man's course) has some Donald Ross origins, and good bones.  I think it would be a great candidate for restoration and some TLC.

I agree regarding Stryker - appears to be some worthwhile design out there.  I am far from a conditions snob, but on my one visit, they were borderline unplayable, so much so that it made it difficult to fully see the potential (which I thought was there).  I haven't played Ryder, so look forward to this tour.  (Note - nearby Highland CC in Fayetteville is a solid Ross I rarely hear much about)

[Richard Hetzel]

Hole No. 4. slightly downhill par 4. Approach shot is to a narrow green across a pond.


Hole No. 5 is a pretty demanding par 3. 195 yards from the tip, at least 160 to carry the water. Not much room to land. Might be the toughest hole on the course.

[Richard Hetzel]

Hole No. 6 is an uphill par 4, 379 yards.. Tee shot should favor the right side for a better look at the green which is tucked back to the left.

[Richard Hetzel]

These were the conditions on the Stryker Course at the end of March, 2023. I really don't like to complain about conditioning either, but when I played, I played off of sand for "almost" the whole round. The bones are there for that course for sure.

[Dave Maberry]

Richard,


I am enjoying your posting of Ryder Golf Course. I most recently played Ryder and Stryker in June 2024.


I have been trying to determine if Donald Ross was involved at Fort Bragg with Stryker Golf Course.


Here's some information from Fort Bragg Cultural Resources on C.C. McCuiston:


Born 7/13/1900
1919 golf professional at Thomasville CC and Monroe CC
1920s Worked with Frank Maples on Roaring Gap CC
1920s and 1930s studied under Donald Ross?
1941 Started at Fort Bragg
         Designed 9 holes at Officer's Club to make it an 18 hole course, eventually Ryder GC
         Designed Enlisted Men's Course 9 holes, part of Stryker GC
         Designed African American 9 hole course, NLE
1950s Left Fort Bragg. He designed Morehead City CC and Arnolda Ranch CC
Died 9/9/1964

[Richard Hetzel]

Hole No. 7. The first of back to back par 5 holes. 531 yards from the tips and 519 from the middle tees. The small creek fronts the green and a poor drive will provide some measure of difficulty on your approach shot into a smaller green. Green was on the smaller side with some decent undulation. Good hole.





Hole No. 8. Another straight away par 5, 523 from the tips and 513 from the middle tees. Drive is back over the small creek and slightly uphill, with a slight lean to the left here.
Hole No. 9 Par 3, 192 from the tips, 177 from the middle tees. Left side borders the driving range. Moderately tough hole, demands an accurate and length approach. Green is protected by a sand trap. Long is not good here.

[Richard Hetzel]

Longest walk between holes is from 9 green to 10th tee. Hole No. 10, par 4. 337 from the tips and 325 from the middle tees. Scoring hole here.


Hole No. 11. Even shorter Par 4, 292 tips, 282 middle tees. Another great chance for a birdie.



Hole No. 12. Par 3, downhill, 173 tips, 160 middle tees.

[Richard Hetzel]

Hole No. 13. Par 4; 401 from the tips and 377 from the middle tees. One of the more boring holes on the course IMO.


Hole No. 14. I really enjoyed this hole. Par 4 362 from the tips and 313 from the middle tees. Slightly downhill to an uphill dogleg right. All you need is an easy fade off the tee.

[Richard Hetzel]

Hole No. 15. Par 5 492 from the tips and 479 from the middle tees. Slight fade to the right off the tee before the fairway goes downhill to a thin strip of drainage/creek. Next section of the fairway is canted to the left side.



Hole No. 16: Par 3, slightly downhill 160 yards from the tips and 150 from the middle tees. You cannot be long here as the ball will be out of bounds. Green is well guarded by several sand traps.
Hole No. 17: Par 4, 369 from the tips and 338 from the middle tees. Uphill, fairly narrow tee shot.



Hole No. 18: Finishes up with a nice par 5. 489 from the tips, 473 from the middle tees. Very nice finishing hole. Longer hitters can get home in two. Tee shot demands a straight drive here.






I think that the Ryder Course is a solid, quite walkable and very enjoyable golf course. It's worth the 30 minutes it takes a civilian to get a pass to get on base IMO.

[Tags:]

Tags: