Chris Haarlow sees similarities between himself and a famous fictional character.
As a golfer, Haarlow has benefitted from miraculous timing and the presence of famous experts.
A former All-American at Guilford College and an instructor and director at Precision Golf School in Greensboro, Haarlow has clinched 2024 Carolinas PGA Player of the Year honors on the strength of top 8 finished in each of the CPGA’s five Senior events, plus strong finishes in a few open tournaments.
“It’s like a Forrest Gump thing,” the 55-year-old Haarlow reflected. “I was in the right place at the right time.”
Haarlow’s fortuitous path began in 1969 when he was an infant and his father, Robert, moved the family from Kansas City to Pinehurst to become the first headmaster at The O’Neal School, a private prep academy.
So Haarlow began life in a golf Mecca, a few decades before the world discovered it and developed it into the booming region it is today, complete with hospitals, shopping malls and retail chains in addition to the quaint Mom and Pop restaurants and businesses.
Though neither his father, nor his mother, Sandy, played golf, Robert quickly made a friend who did — Pine Needles Golf Club proprietor Peggy Kirk Bell, who would send her children to O’Neal,
Bell, a legendary golf pioneer as an LPGA Tour player, instructor and course owner, took the young Haarlow under her wing.
“I was blessed in so many ways. Peggy basically adopted me as one of her kids,” Haarlow recalled. “Peggy Kirk basically gave me the game of golf. She was just great to me and my family.”
Haarlow learned to play from Bell and Harvie Ward, the UNC star and two-time U.S. Amateur champion then teaching at Pine Needles. Early on, Ward made sure Haarlow got the proper equipment.
“Harvie said, ‘Hey Peg, we got to get Chris some clubs,’:” Haarlow remembered.
“‘OK, I’ll call Ben,”’ Bell responded.
“Ten days later, I’ve got a set of clubs from Ben Hogan,” Haarlow said.
As a teenager, Haarlow had jobs at Pine Needles and Pinehurst Resort and Country Club, where he met highly acclaimed instructors such as Hank Haney and Eric Alpenfels, then early in their careers. Alpenfels became Harlow’s primary instructor.
Haarlow said he was the first non-Bell family member to be a camper, counselor and instructor at Pine Needles’ famous “Golfari” camps. At Pinehurst, he came under the guidance of another legend, PGA of America president Don Padgett, who gave his range workers almost free-reign to play the property’s courses, including No. 2, when baskets of balls was fully stocked for members and the ball machine was full for guests.
Good luck nowadays getting on No. 2 once a year as range attendant. Open tee times are scarce and cost as much as $500 or more. Pinehurst has become a bucket list destination for golfers all over the world.
“Between he and Peggy Kirk, they were so gracious in what they allowed me to do,” Haarlow said. “I always call (the Pinehurst area) home.
“I probably played more than 300 rounds at No. 2. I remember chasing the mowers down the fairways.”
As he grew older, Haarlow remained close to Bell. When her husband and Pine Needles partner, Warren Bell, known as “Bullet”, died in 1984, Bell temporarily cut her workload.
Bell, whose respect in golf circles would eventually make Pine Needles a regular in the U.S. Women’s Open rotation, died in 2016 at age 95.
“I was the only one she taught for about a year,” Haarlow recalled, his face quivering with emotion. “So she and I had a bond I can’t forget.
Aided by such expert instruction and remarkable access to top facilities, Haarlow accepted a golf scholarship to Guilford College, and was a member of the Quakers’ 1989 NAIA national championship team.
Haarlow cites course management and putting as his best skills.
He spent 6-plus years chasing his dream to make the PGA Tour, playing mini tours. In six tries, he failed at PGA Tour Qualifying School. But he said he has no regrets.
“I was full bore for 6 1/2 years trying to play,” he said. “I met so many great people, met so many great friends.”
He did qualify for the 1994 U.S. Open at Oakmont, a tournament best-remembered for staggering heat conditions and its timing the week of Nicole Brown’s death and the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase.
Haarlow shot 82 and 74 to miss the cut. But Haarlow took home the memory of seeing Arnold Palmer walk down the 18th fairway to thunderous applause in his last U.S. Open appearance as he walked down the nearby 10th. Haarlow also avoided any three-putts on the course’s slippery greens.
After deciding to become an instructor, Haarlow’s famous connections continued. He took a job working at George Bryan’s golf facility in Columbia, South Carolina, where he became friends with the owner’s sons George and Wes, now pro golfers and social media stars. Harlow’s best-known pupils include the Bryan brothers and the late Grayson Murray.
Haarlow joined Robert Linville’s Precision School about 23 years ago. Linville, like Haarlow a member of the Guilford Sports Hall of Fame, founded the school in 1989. Precision has instructional locations at Bryan Park and Bur-Mil Park.
The son of a headmaster and a pupil of greats such as Bell, Ward and Alpenfels, teaching seemed like a natural transition.
“Just the culture back then in Pinehurst was they wanted to give back to the game,” Haarlow said. “I was lucky enough to be a recipient of it. I wanted it to keep going.”
An instructor — mostly at Bryan Park — Haarlow has the opportunity to practice. But not on the course. Though he plays 14-16 tournaments per year — including about a half-dozen pro-ams — he said he’d only played two recreational rounds.
In recent years, Haarlow has improved with age — thanks to a hip replacement three years ago that improved his mobility.
“I had to relearn how to swing,” Haarlow said. “I was able to get to a new level.”
In 2023, Haarlow won the CPGA’s final Carolinas Section Senior tournament, replaced this year by two one-day events — Haarlow won the first at Cedarwood Country Club in Charlotte.
Haarlow not only enjoys tournament competition, but believes his success helps him instill confidence in his students.
“I think the best teachers end up having a bit of duality where they can play a little bit,” he said. “One common thread for instructors is to give confidence to their students.”
When clients come to Haarlow, they know they’re receiving instruction from someone who learned from the best and became the best.