BY ED DUPREE North Carolina has a lot of tremendous golf courses, many of them located in the Triad. The North Carolina Golf Panel ranks the state’s top 100 courses each year, but there are 40 courses that will never appear on that list. Why? It’s simply because there are 40 regulation courses that have…
By DAVID DROSCHAK Even in the best of times, acquiring a portfolio of eight private golf clubs over a decade would rocket John McConnell to the top of the list of the game’s power brokers. But in reality, he couldn’t have picked a more challenging time to make his mark in the golf industry –…
By STEVE HANF Bill Lankford celebrates his 30th year running Maple Leaf Golf Club this year. But like many 30-somethings – and beyond – Lankford instead likes to focus on the 29th birthday. “The biggest one was back in October: 29 years,” Lankford jokingly said of anniversaries. “I worked for Container Corporation of America for…
By MARC PRUITT Say goodbye to Pine Brook Country Club in Winston-Salem as you might know it. No, the club that opened in 1954 isn’t shutting its doors. It has a new ownership group that is making plenty of changes, most notably a new name – Maple Chase Golf and Country Club. Initially the…
By BOB SUTTON Three courses in the region could re-open to full capacity within a matter of weeks of each other as greens projects take shape. Country Hills Golf Course set an Aug. 28 date for new greens to be used. Course manager Melody Bryant said the 18-hole facility in Gibsonville avoided closing during the…
The summer beach season may be winding down but the Myrtle Beach golf season is just cranking up. North Carolina golfers know autumn is one of the best times of the year to enjoy great deals on some of the top-ranked courses in America, including award-winning designs by Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Larry…
By MICHAEL GRAFF Standing in the first fairway on the first hole of the first round played at the newly renovated Bryan Park Golf course, Kevin Smith pulled out a 9-iron. The course’s superintendent has stared at approach shots on this hole countless times during his 10 years at Bryan Park. But this day, August…
When Vince Lima saw Salem Glen Golf & Country Club for the first time, he knew it was going to be his ultimate destination. On Aug. 20, he became the new owner of the 18-hole complex located in Clemmons, purchasing the property from a receivership. Lima had retired two summers ago from a 30-year career…
By Harris Prevost Chetola, one of the South’s finest resorts, has combined with the Hound Ears Club to provide an unforgettable couples’ experience, both on and off the golf course. The private Hound Ears course is a unique layout in that higher handicap golfers enjoy good scoring rounds but lower handicap golfers are challenged to…
By STEVE WILLIAMS Despite a rain-drenched summer, the new greens project at Bryan Park’s Champions Course is right on target for a late-August re-opening. “We were so lucky at the very beginning of the process that we managed some way or another to miss the really torrential downpours that would have caused those sprigs to…