Its creation on the outskirts of Middletown, Del., is the work of Allen Liddicoat, EG ’71, and co-designer David Horn. The Back Creek business mix also includes three other alumni—limited partners Bruce White, BE ’55, and Rick Woodlin, EG ’76, as well as marketing director Phil Hernandez, AS ’91.

Liddicoat, a developer of custom homes for nearly 20 years, tried his hand at transforming an old crop farm into a dazzling golf course in 1996.

He succeeded. Big time. In a March 1999 issue of Golfweek, one of the nation’s premier golf publications, the Back Creek Golf Course was tabbed as one of the “Top 100 Modern Golf Courses in America.” Ranked No. 98, Back Creek was one of a handful of courses that were highlighted in the article: “...the market is changing—or at least, making room for modestly scaled style and substance by lesser-known designers. Witness the appearance of a real-estate-related, daily fee course in Middletown, Del. The routing of Back Creek allows plenty of home frontage, but the holes also hew to the native contours, circumvent wetlands without imposing awkward forced carries and are walkable rather than requiring a cross-country highway to get from green to next tee.”

It was sweet praise for a first-time amateur course designer.

The Back Creek project is a golf community that began in 1989 with the purchase of the land. Today, the community consists of more than 200 homes. The course weaves its way through the development but, unlike many courses, gives no feeling of being hemmed in by the houses.

When it opened in fall 1997, the $2.4 million Back Creek was the first public golf course built in New Castle County, Del., in 25 years.

Because of its location and reasonable green fees, Back Creek attracts players not only from the booming southern New Castle County area, but also from Wilmington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and southern New Jersey.

When Liddicoat initially began costing out the design of the course, he came to the conclusion that he was the most prominent golf course designer he could afford.

“I read every book on course architecture I could find and attended every seminar I could get into,” says Liddicoat, a lifelong Delaware resident. “Then I got together with David Horn [an architect from Allentown, Pa.], and we came up with what we believed was both good and feasible.”

Given that it was essentially a flat, run-of-the-mill piece of land, Liddicoat and Horn worked wonders to create a 7,003-yard, par-72, links-style layout loosely modeled after The Royal & Ancient Gold Club of St. Andrews, the legendary Scottish course that has hosted many British Open championships.

“I went on trips to Ireland and Great Britain to analyze those courses,” recalls Liddicoat. “What I found was gently rolling terrain, sandy soil and plenty of wind. It really gave me an idea of what the game was like when it first started.”

Liddicoat made the most of the lightly wooded site. Its challenging “open air” layout features an illusion of many dramatic elevation changes and landing areas, from wavy fairways and contoured greens to an assortment of sculpted mounds and knolls and thickets of spongy wetlands. By diverting water, Liddicoat created rippling ponds that come into play on six holes and variable winds, along with 83 bunkers, that spice up the lay of the course. Four sets of tees situated on enormous tee areas allow for a variety of play positions for each round of golf. Up to 30,000 rounds are projected for Back Creek this year.

“Since there hadn’t been a golf course built in Delaware for so long, it was not an easy approval process,” remembers Liddicoat. “We worked with the county Department of Land Use to develop an approval process, which ultimately included a turf management program and water quality and quantity standards.”

Initially, the pair didn’t have much luck with the weather. The course project started in the spring of ’96, which turned out to be one of the wettest years on record. The following two years were unseasonably dry, which hindered the developers’ ability “to grow the course in.” A good player knowledgeable about the game, Liddicoat did much of the design work himself, as well as supervising construction of the course and making all field changes.

“The shapes of the greens, as well as the putting and chipping areas, are unique to that part of the county,” Liddicoat explains. “They complement each other and offer a lot of shot options. It’s built more like a course from the 1920s. It’s more strategic than penal. The players hit around the hazards and weave their way to the hole. It provides a variety of shot options due to the varying contour of course. Our goal was to make it playable and fun.”

To complete the project, the builders were required to move 350,000 yards of dirt. The course is aesthetically pleasing with plenty of tall grass areas that cater to wildlife and aid the water quality and quantity.

Liddicoat’s next venture is a second golf course in Middletown, The Legends at Frog Hollow. Set to open in spring 2000, it will feature one of the premier playing surfaces in the mid-Atlantic region, Liddicoat says.

A golfer since age 14, Liddicoat, who is currently overseeing three separate golf courses (he’s an owner/business manager of Chantilly Manor in North East, Md.), says he’s lucky to get in one round a month.

So, what’s the key to his success as a golf course designer?

“Some of it came from building homes for people and listening to what they really wanted,” he explains. “I learned an enormous amount from reading the books of old-time architects. It also comes down to a feel for the landscape. You need a keen eye and the ability to blend a stiff challenge for even the best golfers with an overall harmony of the land.”