Hope Valley's Course Goes Quiet on New Year's Day. Hillandale Just Got Ready.

"We're pretty much touching the whole canvas," architect Kris Spence told Triangle Golf this month about his plans for Hope Valley Country Club. Construction starts in January, and the course is expected to reopen in mid-to-late fall 2027. The same report puts Hope Valley's traffic at 28,000 rounds a year.

Southwest Durham's 1926 Donald Ross layout is going dark for most of a year. The timing works out, though, because the biggest new block of practice space in the area opened this summer at Hillandale Golf Course, Durham's 114-year-old city-owned course. That build was Hillandale's first major construction project in more than 60 years.

What Spence is actually rebuilding

Spence is restoring the course toward Ross's original design, and its history explains the scope. Over the decades Perry Maxwell, Dan Maples, John LaFoy and Brian Silva all updated the course. Silva made the most recent changes in 2003. Over the years the greens rose higher above the fairways, and Spence told Triangle Golf that the last renovation left them flatter, with higher edges, in a way that doesn't fit Ross's work. He's working from a full set of Ross's original drawings.

Here is what changes, according to Triangle Golf's October 14 report:

1. Greens. They'll be rebuilt to their original height with more contour and resurfaced in TifEagle Bermuda, replacing today's Champion Bermuda. The collars will be Tahoma 31 Bermuda.
2. Bunkers. The count goes from 55 to 59, a few will move, and Ross-style cross bunkers come back into some fairways. The new bunkers are built with capillary concrete and G-Angle sand for better drainage.
3. Fairways. They'll be sodded in Zeon Zoysia, a grass that handles cold well and has performed well at Country Club of North Carolina.
4. The creek on No. 11. A creek once ran diagonally across the right side of the fairway and was later filled in. Spence is bringing it back. Ben Hogan called No. 11 one of the greatest holes in the world and later said filling the creek "ruined" it.
5. What's underground. Significant irrigation and drainage work is included, and Spence has already removed many trees.

The May announcement from Bobby Jones Links, which manages the club, estimated the construction at about 10 months. That timeline lines up with a January start and a mid-to-late fall reopening. The par-70 course plays to 6,720 yards with a 72.9 rating and 136 slope.

The calendar between now and reopening

The club is ending its centennial year on the course and starting the restoration right after. General manager Aaron James, who was appointed in May, described the schedule to Triangle Golf.

Spence renovated Hope Valley's practice area last year. The club hasn't publicly said whether that area or any holes will stay open during construction, or whether members will get reciprocal play anywhere else. Members will get the most reliable answer from the club office.

Hillandale's range was built for exactly this kind of demand

Before this summer, Hillandale had 20 tee stations. The expansion that opened July 31 brought that total to 50 artificial-turf bays and added a putting green three times its former size, and a new short-game area. Funding came from the City of Durham, which appropriated nearly $1 million, and from course operator Amerazil Golf, which added about $200,000. Craig Haltom Golf Design handled the work.

The project was built around SwingPals, a Durham youth golf and mentoring program based at the course. The new bays double the daily capacity available to the program. According to The First Call, director of golf Karl Kimball said range traffic passed the course's goal for August by the middle of that month.

The course is already busy. The First Call reported that Hillandale has logged a record 56,000-plus rounds a year in recent years, about twice Hope Valley's 28,000. Hillandale needs a tee time, and you can book one seven days ahead. On a busy weekend in 2027, booking at the start of that window could matter.

Prices at 1600 Hillandale Road are low for the Triangle. The course's posted rates are:

• Weekday 18 holes: $25 walking, $40 with a cart
• Weekend 18 holes: $29 walking, $45 with a cart
• Senior 60+ weekday 18 holes: $18 walking, $30 with a cart
• Weekday nine holes: $13 walking, $22 with a cart

The range page lists buckets of 35 balls for $8, 70 for $11, and 105 for $15. That page and the rates page aren't dated, so check prices before you go. On October 18 the course's status page showed the last range bucket at 5:30 p.m. and the range closing at 6. Expect earlier cutoffs as the days get shorter.

The layout is a George Cobb routing from 1961 that tops out at 6,400 yards and par 71, with Interstate 85 on one side and Hillandale Road running toward Duke. It hosted the opening rounds of the 1944 Durham Open, which finished at Hope Valley, where Craig Wood beat Byron Nelson by three strokes. The two courses share some history that predates this year.

Duke University Golf Club covers the championship-length gap

Hillandale gives you volume and value. Duke University Golf Club, next to the Washington Duke Inn, is the other public option nearby, and its posted rates reflect a different product. Duke advertises daily public play. On October 19, its online booking showed open 18-hole tee times for the next day.

Here's how the 2026 rates compare, using Duke's schedule effective September 23, 2026:

Duke's schedule also lists rates for Duke alumni and hotel guests at $90 and $65 on weekdays, and a Monday through Wednesday senior rate for players 62 and older at $105 with a cart or $95 walking. Its GPS cart charge is $35 per person and includes a warm-up bucket, or $25 after 4 p.m.

If you mainly want somewhere to practice, Duke's facility is the most Hope Valley-like option. It has an all-grass range, a sand bunker, and a 20,000-square-foot putting and chipping area. Off-season hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and in-season hours run 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Range buckets run from $10 for 30 balls to $25 for 120. The practice facility closes every other week from Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. until Wednesday at noon, and the course stays closed Wednesday mornings for maintenance. Both schedules can shift with the weather, so check before you drive over midweek.

You can also eat at the course. NINETEEN Grill overlooks the driving range and is open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday and Wednesday through Sunday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Inside the Inn, the Fairview Dining Room serves weekday lunch, weekend brunch and dinner every day.

Finley, and one course that's off the list

UNC Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill takes daily-fee players. Its posted fees include a warm-up bag of balls, and its late-day weekday rate of $50 after 3:30 p.m. is one of the lower-priced ways to get 18 holes on a championship course in the area. The course, clubhouse and practice facilities are open Wednesday through Monday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Finley is closed Tuesdays and Duke is closed Wednesday mornings, so between the two you can find an open championship course any day of the week.

Some older Durham course lists still include Lakeshore Golf Course. It closed on March 10, 2018, after 55 years, and the property was slated for single-family homes.

What comes back in fall 2027

When the course reopens, Hope Valley members will be playing greens with what Spence described to Triangle Golf as "ridges and spines with folds and twist and turns." No. 11 will play with its creek again. Spence's recent restorations include Sedgefield, Roaring Gap and Holston Hills in Knoxville. Until then, the posted weekday walking rate at Hillandale is $25, and the practice area opened in July has 50 bays.

Want to know what Hope Valley's restoration timeline could mean for a home near the course, or which club in the Triangle fits the way you like to play? Eddie Niemeyer and the team at North Carolina Golf Homes follow these courses closely and are glad to talk it through. Begin Your Golf Lifestyle Journey and schedule a free consultation.