Sam Snead won more than 80 PGA events. Poplar Grove is the last golf course Snead
personally had a hand in designing, but he passed away before the back nine was completed.
The dramatically beautiful course reflects the trio’s sense of fun, playability,
challenge, and aesthetics.
Getting the Sneads and Carton involved at Poplar Grove was the doing of
Anderson & Associates. The Poplar Grove
development group called A&A to look at the land as a possible golf course. A&A
Associate Vice President Brad Stipes loved the
idea and called the Sneads. A&A had collaborated with the Sneads several years ago on
the Sam Snead Virginia Golf Trail consisting of new or redesigned courses. The Sneads
worked well with Carton, who had started Carton Design Studio after years with famed golf
architect Tom Fazio.
"This project was a real team effort between the designers, the
engineers and the course superintendent," Carton said. "Anderson &
Associates added a lake that wasn’t in the plans. They put it in for stormwater
control, not aesthetics, but it curves so gracefully that all you can say is
‘wow.’"
It is important to Carton that everything looks as though earth was
never moved – slopes blend, the landscape flows, nothing is abrupt. "This
represents an extraordinary set of design values that many 
designers
have never understood," wrote the editor of Pros
N’Hackers magazine.
Carton says his modest golf skills were actually an asset to the team.
"I’m about a 20 handicapper, so I bring the average person’s perspective.
Having worked closely with professional players such as the Sneads and Raymond Floyd, I’m able to give clients the best
of both worlds. We have five sets of tees to provide challenges for all levels," he
said.
There is no question that this is a shotmaker’s course, with lots
of the opportunities for strategy Sam Snead loved, Carton says. "The course was
designed for many risk-reward shots. There are no surprises; you can see all of your
options as you play each shot," he said.
The semi-private course is operated by Troon, a world leader in golf management. Only four
months after opening, Poplar Grove was named to the top 50 courses in the Mid-Atlantic
region.
Carton lives in Amherst with his wife and three sons. He continues to design
world-class golf facilities for the rich and famous as well as for municipalities and
state agencies such as the town of Oyster Bay,
N.Y., and the Georgia
Department of Natural Resources for golf courses in their state parks.
Golf architect Ed Carton designs stunning golf courses
around the world, but while laying out 