White Clay Creek Country Club

Overview: White Clay Creek Country Club is an 18-hole public course in Wilmington, Delaware, set within the floodplain and woodland edge of White Clay Creek. Arthur Hills and Steve Forrest shaped a par-72 layout that uses water on 16 of 18 holes, along with wooded fairways, shaped landing areas and bentgrass greens. The course's interest comes from the interaction between drainage, creek corridors and the designed playing surfaces. At about 7,007 yards, it has championship scale, but the choice of tee positions and the variety of water angles keep the experience from becoming a single-distance test.

History: Construction began in May 2002 and the course opened in July 2005. The project presented a difficult floodplain site to Arthur Hills and Steve Forrest, who had to work with extensive drainage and hydrological constraints rather than simply route holes across dry ground. A major storm in 2004 exposed the limits of the original plans and led to revised grading and drainage work. The finished course therefore has a direct connection between its engineering history and its golf character: water is both a natural condition and a central design element.

Did You Know? White Clay Creek's designers had to revise the project after major flooding in 2004. The floodplain challenges helped shape the finished drainage and grading strategy, while the completed course still brings water into play on 16 of its 18 holes.