If there’s one trademark of Cate’s world-class work,
it’s his sophisticated touches both on the course
and among the course’s immediate surroundings.
“It’ll blow everything out of the water up there,” says
Cate, who graduated from the University of Georgia in
1984 with a degree in Landscape Architecture. “You could
bring that down here (to Myrtle Beach) and it would be
one of those top-five, best new courses and all that stuff.
Up there in Wilmington they’ve never had competition
like they have down here.
“I think the people who play it are going to be pretty
surprised at what they see.
“They’re going to see a sophisticated, detailed level of
golf that they probably don’t even know about. It’s a very
good project with very good developers. And KemperSports
is top of the line. Everybody’s just totally committed to
make Cape Fear really good.”
If there’s one trademark f Cate’s world-class work, it’s
his sophisticated touches both on the course and amongs
the course’s immediate surroundings. As KemperSports regional sales and marketing director Chris
Schwartz puts it, Cate’s detailed overall landscape
design elements are what set his courses apart.
For example, at Cape Fear, many of the hazard
areas are accented by colorful plants and native grasses. The
course also features more than 1,500 linear feet of bridges,
three separate waterfalls, several ponds, strategically
placed rock walls, drive-through sand waste areas, and
beach bunkers that run into the ponds. In the end, all
of this makes for a challenging and aesthetically pleasing
golf experience.
“My golf courses are totally molded and marry up to
whatever site they’re going to be on,” says Cate. “They’re all
so dramatically different and really take on the character
of each site. [The golf course] complements the site heavily
and the site complements it. They work together.
“It improves that whole site, wherever that may be, by
the way the two work together. [The golf course] really just
molds into the site, enhances and uses whatever opportunity
