Duke University Golf Club

Getting To Know: Duke University Golf Club

An Insightful Interview With Ed Ibarguen, PGA Director of Golf

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Ed Ibarguen who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
The Duke University Golf Club is open to the public. The golf course was originally designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and opened in 1957. It is cut into the middle of the Duke Forest and is located just behind the four-diamond Washington Duke Inn off of the Duke University west campus. The course was lovingly renovated by Jones son, Rees Jones in 1993. Rees kept his father's layout design, made it a bit more generous off of the tee and increased the shot values into the greens. The golf club has hosted many top level amateur and collegiate golf championships including the 1962 and 2001 Men's NCAA Championship.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
Because we are open to the public, there are several reasons to come play your golf at the Duke University Golf Club. We have a challenging course designed by two of America's greatest golf course architects. Our practice facilities are outstanding with a 28+ acre practice range and excellent short game facilities. We feature first quality PGA golf instruction with 8 PGA and 1 LPGA instructors on staff. We have award winning golf shop that carries high quality merchandise and equipment, and golf accessories. Our staff is famous for our hospitality as well as creating a fun and friendly golf environment. Our goal is to keep 'Getting Better Every Day' to give our guests a memorable golfing experience.

Golfer's may walk the course any time or rent our new Club Car golf cars equipped with the well-known Visage GPS yardage system. The Washington Duke Inn provided all food and beverage services which have been highly touted as the most delicious golf course food in the Triangle. If you want a special day of golf, come out and visit us!

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
The golf course features elevated greens that require a bit more club than the yardage indicates. Also, keep the wind in mind. Similar to Augusta National, the winds swirl inside the stand of trees on both sides of the fairways so please keep their direction in consideration before playing your shot! :-)

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
BRAND NEW GREENS: We will be converting our greens this summer to award winning 'Champion' Ultradwarf Bermuda grass!

2013 Carolinas Merchandiser of the Year Award: PGA Head Golf Professional - Jessie Stewart.

2013 - Top 50 'Grow the Game' Instructor GRR - Ed Ibarguen.

2010-2103 Top 100 Teacher in US by Golf Magazine - Ed Ibarguen.

We are always ranked highly in the best courses you can play in the state of North Carolina and as one of the finest University golf courses in the country.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
There are several that could qualify but the semi-island green on hole #12 is probably the most photographed. It required a steady and confident mind to strike your iron on this par three solidly over the water and safely on the green.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
I love the par 5 #7 hole. It is a demanding three shot hole where your shot values increase with each progressive swing. A dogleg left off he tee to a slightly down hill lie on your second. Your can try to carry the creek in front of the green but it will take a perfect shot to do it. It is best to lay up to a full wedge for your third. The green is two tiered back to front and well-protected with bunkers right and left. Don't forget the creek in front! Your third shot needs to be precise or you will need the touch of a Duke surgeon to get it UP and Down when he green is missed.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
The beers on tap in the Bull Durham bar are always cold and delicious. The homemade Arnold Palmer is outstanding as a non-alcoholic beverage. We have a full compliment of mixed drinks and a four-diamond level wine list.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 72
Yardage: 7154
Slope: 141
Rating: 73.9

More Information
Duke University Golf Club
3001 Cameron Blvd Durham,
North Carolina, 27705
919.681.6161
golf.duke.edu

Revised: 03/26/2013 - Article Viewed 31,814 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.