By David Droschak To hear Hunter McCulloch talk you could swear he was describing a diabolical Pete Dye layout, Amen Corner or the church pews at Oakmont. “The elevation changes are very critical and this course will punish you if you miss your line,” McCulloch said. McCulloch and fellow Durham resident James Everette are into…
By STEVE WILLIAMS A trip into the zone has Lori Beth Adams on the road to the LPGA Tour. The former Western Alamance High School and UNC Wilmington star used an incredible 6-under-par 30 on the back nine of round seven in the LPGA Q-Series as the key to earning full status on the 2019…
By Brad King A few weeks prior to its grand reopening, the freshly restored Championship Course at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons survived its first big test. Hurricane Florence dumped about five inches of rain on the Triad in two days. The Championship Course’s new bunker complexes passed with flying colors. “There was no water in…
By David Droschak Few people remember the losers in golf. Who finished runner-up at the 2013 U.S. Open or the 2016 Masters? Who knows, and to be blunt, who really cares? Winning is everything in golf, hoisting the trophy, soaking in the march up the 18th fairway with the tournament in hand and the crowd…
By David Droschak Kris Spence worked on historic Forsyth Country Club about the same time he was doing the same to fellow Triad area layout Sedgefield Country Club, creating quite a Donald Ross return to form for both private clubs 12 years ago. The restoration project of the Ross design was the main focus back…
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.…