MEDFORD, Ore., - A new 18-hole championship golf course, designed by John Fought, a native Oregonian, is under construction here and is scheduled to be open for play next spring.
Centennial Golf Club will be a par-72, 7,350-yard layout with five tee settings. It is the seventh design Fought has been involved with in the state of Oregon.
"We have had very little earth to move on the site," Fought said. "The course will have beautiful views and is being designed in classic (Donald) Ross motif."
The name "Centennial" was chosen because it recognizes that classic era of golf as well as the history of the site, said Kevin McLoughlin, executive director, Rogue Valley Manor.
Fought, a long-time admirer of Ross' work, is coming off a widely acclaimed restoration of Pine Needles in Southern Pines, N.C., one of the heralded Ross' most popular golf course designs. "Fought's sensitive touch at Pine Needles should bring course developers to his doorstep," wrote Lorne Rubenstein, golf columnist for The (Toronto) Globe and Mail. "They'll find a man who knows how to design new courses and to restore old ones."
Centennial Golf Club is a joint development project of Pacific Retirement Services, Inc., and Rogue Valley Manor both based in Medford. Pacific Retirement Services also operates Quail Point Golf Course, an existing nine-hole course, which, like Centennial GC, is part of the Rogue Valley Manor "campus." OB Sports Golf Management, which manages numerous golf clubs on the West Coast, has been selected to manage Centennial GC.
"John (Fought) has been intimately involved with Centennial from the beginning - he's walked it from end to end every time he's been here," McLoughlin said. "We knew of John's strong reputation in the Pacific Northwest, and it has been a great decision to move forward with him."
Other courses in Oregon that Fought either collaborated on or designed on his own include: Pumpkin Ridge, Ghost Creek and Witch Hollow courses (Cornelius, Ore.); Crosswater and Meadows at Sunriver Resort (Sunriver); The Reserve Vineyards & Golf Club (Hillsboro); and Langdon Farms Golf Club (Aurora).
In addition, Fought is part owner of Sundoon, a planned 18-hole course in The Dalles (Ore.) that is not yet under construction.
Also an accomplished golfer, Fought, 51, is a former U.S. Amateur champion (1977) who was a two-time winner on the PGA Tour. He has played in selected Champions Tour events over the past two years, including the 2005 Senior PGA Championship, played May 26-29 in Ligonier, Pa.
Additional information about John Fought Design, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., can be obtained by calling (480) 991-9858 or by logging onto www.foughtdesign.com.
More information about Centennial Golf Club can be obtained by calling Pacific Retirement Services at (800) 848-7868 or (541) 857-7028.
Media Contact:
Karen Moraghan
Hunter Public Relations - East
908/876-5100
kmoraghan@hunter-pr.com
