Even for a native North Carolinian who has spent his entire career as a writer, it’s difficult to describe what I was expecting as I prepared to make my first visit to North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley wine country. But whatever I was expecting, it most assuredly wasn’t what I found.

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – In the golf course design profession, Clive Clark is never going to be confused with the likes of Donald Ross, Robert Trent Jones or Jack Nicklaus, all of whom boast portfolios that run on for pages. In fact, in some ways, Clark’s résumé as a designer mirrors his career as a player.

It’s not the quantity of work, but the quality that impresses.