By Kurt Dusterberg Willie McRae sits comfortably on the veranda at Pinehurst Resort, looking out over a golf course he knows better than anyone who has ever lived. That might sound like an overstatement, until you consider that he is in his 73rd year caddying at Pinehurst No. 2. When a man’s career endures longer…
By Kurt Dusterberg It would be easy to write off 81-year-old John Gerring as an old-school teaching guru, a throwback to a bygone era. But Gerring hopes you will hear him out. After 55 years as a PGA professional, he knows what works, even if his instruction doesn’t involve whistles and bells. That’s by design;…
By Brad King One of America’s groundbreaking resort destinations from the second half of the 20th century until today, Hilton Head Island is centrally located 40 miles north of Savannah, Ga., and 90 miles south of Charleston, S.C. Despite a recent hit from Hurricane Matthew, Hilton Head, S.C., remains nobly standing as the largest barrier…
By STUART HALL Ten days is all Mike Thompson needed to receive the first return from his investment in a new SkyTrak launch monitor. Playing in a Virginia State Golf Association’s Senior Open qualifier, on a Meadowbrook Country Club course he had never seen before last year, Thompson, of Richmond, Va., fired a 67 to…
By Jay Allred Bill Lankford Sr. spent the last 32 years operating Maple Leaf Golf Course in Kernersville. On Nov. 13, Lankford passed away unexpectedly at 79. In an interview two years ago, Lankford said, “You can have hard times and have struggles with the weather and the economy, but you never give up. Everybody…
By David Droschak West Davidson’s decision to field a women’s golf team four years ago couldn’t have come under more competitive circumstances. The Dragons were not only starting a golf team from scratch but just happened to be in the Central Carolina Conference competing against 2-A powerhouse Salisbury, which had captured four straight state championships…
By David Droschak The comparisons are natural, since Triangle-area prep stars Jenny Chang and Gina Kim have parents of Asian descent, are high school juniors, each have multiple state championships – and each spends hours upon hours practicing ball striking, putting and their short games. Who is better? Or maybe we should say: Who will…
GM at Stoneville club takes on “for the team” during greens project By Steve Hanf John Budwine boasts 35 years of experience in the golf business. He never dreamed, however, that one day he’d be in charge of a greens replacement project. “It was rather scary for me,” Budwine said with a chuckle. “This…
By David Droschak Under normal circumstances, it would have been a major downer for the re-opening of the Dogwood Course at the Country Club of North Carolina to transpire in the middle of Tropical Storm Hermine. But with a major directive to transform the Ellis Maples classic into a firmer playing experience for the private…
By Brad King He has been there since the beginning. Tom Ducey remembers back in the early 1990s driving to the Stanly County Airport to pick up Tom Fazio, when the then-relatively unknown golf course architect was in the process of building what would become Old North State Club on 5,300-acre Badin Lake, along a…