By Brad King Pinehurst-based golf course architect Richard Mandell has too much on his plate these days to stress about the challenges facing his industry. Despite new course construction plummeting during in the past decade, Mandell has remained a busy man. Since forming his company, Richard Mandell Golf Architecture in 1992, he has worked on…
By Steve Huffman Think the life of a touring golf professional is glamorous? Then, please, step back and consider a week in the life of Lori Beth Adams. In early August, the 26-year-old Adams, a graduate of Western Alamance High School and UNC Wilmington, competed in the Firekeepers Casino Challenge, a Symetra Tour event played…
By Brad King Golf course architect Kris Spence faced a standing room only crowd of 400-plus gathered in Providence Country Club’s Grand Ballroom in early January for a presentation of the club’s upcoming golf course renovation. Tall and broad-shouldered with auburn hair and a chiseled countenance, Spence was dressed in a dark suit and a…
By Brad King If Harold Varner III needed validation that he has become one of North Carolina’s favorite sons, he earned it during the final round of last year’s Wyndham Championship. On a hot and humid Sunday afternoon at Greensboro’s Sedgefield Country Club, the mantle was passed to Varner from his playing partner, Davis Love…
By David Droschak Ben Schlottman’s remarkable freshman year at Auburn in 2015 didn’t come without consequences. The SEC freshman of the year was rolling along in record-setting fashion, but looking back now the former Forsyth Country Day star really didn’t know why he was piling up sub-par round after sub-par round against excellent college competition.…
By Brad King Most golf professionals will tell you that the grip is the foundation for a golfer’s swing. North Carolina-based Golf Pride Grips is recognized globally as the No. 1 choice in grips among touring and club professionals, recreational players, competitive amateur golfers, club manufacturers — such as Callaway, PING, Taylor Made, Titleist, etc. —…
By Brad King In the world of golf course architecture, Ellis Maples may not be as prolific or renowned as fellow North Carolinians Donald Ross or Tom Fazio. But Maples is unquestionably the centerpiece of North Carolina’s first family of golf course design, construction and maintenance. Maples was born in Pinehurst in 1909. His father,…
By David Droschak Bath County in Virginia has virtually stood still for years, where doors are left unlocked and you fish, hunt or play golf – and wake up the next day and do it all over again. Legendary touring pro Sam Snead was born and died here, but early in his pro career made…
By Kurt Dusterberg Brandon Einstein will soon be off to college, but he’s not letting the summer months slip away without squeezing a few more memories out of his current golf era. The 18-year-old from Clemmons has qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach on Aug. 13-18. That achievement came just weeks after…
By Steve Huffman The renovation of Tanglewood’s Championship Golf Course is going well, with the facility on track to reopen around the first of October. “We haven’t experienced any major setbacks,” said Mike Wilcox, Tanglewood’s director of golf. “Our goal was to reopen Oct. 1, and with any luck, we’re going to hit it, or…