PETERSBURG -- The name has changed, but a familiar piece of land across the street from Petersburg High School has been given an extensive makeover.

Renowned golf course architect Tom Clark has transformed the old Lee Park Golf course property into a jewel of a course now known as Dogwood Trace.

Lee Park was a 6,000-yard course that was fun to play, had some good holes, demanded players to shape their shots and logged about 30,000 rounds a year. The major drawback was that it was not often in good shape. The course was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina and closed.

The City of Petersburg has spent $4 million for the re-do and endured a lot of criticism for pouring money into a golf course. Assistant City Manager Eric Campbell was aware of the transformation Clark performed on another municipal course, Bide-A-Wee in Portsmouth, and helped guide the process to fruition.

The result of Clark's work is a more muscular (6,605 yards from the back tees) layout that has more character, is better conditioned, has superb greens and as general manager/PGA professional Jamie Fagan says of the back nine, "It has a very Northeastern-type feel. It has a lot of corridors, very tight and a lot of maturity. I find it hard to call it a renovation because it really is in a lot of cases a brand new golf course."

The course has five par 3s, five par 5s and eight par 4s. The green on the lengthened par-5 eighth has three levels. The seventh, ninth and 17th holes, all par 3s, have new ponds to cross on the tee shots. Nos. 9 and 10 are back-to-back par 3s. The 13th and 17th holes share a double green, something that Clark has done at the Woods course at Kingsmill and the ninth and 18th holes at The Dominion Club.

"This course requires a lot of shot making. You are not going to be able to overpower it," said Fagan, former head pro at The Dominion Club. "You are going to have to shape your shots. It's a good course for seniors. The better players are going to have to use a lot of hybrids to work it around the back nine."

Clark was able to lengthen the course by "using every nook and cranny to get it," Fagan said.

The major addition is the practice facility that includes a chipping green, practice sand bunker and 40-station range tee.

"In the long-term, I think it's going to compete on the lines of an Independence or a Hunting Hawk, but because we are a municipality, the prices are going to be reasonable," Fagan said. "That's always been a goal. [The city] wanted affordable golf."

Contact Arthur Utley at (804) 649-6559 or autley@timesdispatch.com.