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Reed could make PGA Tour return in North Carolina

John Brasier
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Reed could make PGA Tour return in North Carolina

Patrick Reed seems to be headed back to the PGA Tour, and while he won’t be reinstated in time for the Wyndham Championship, he may make his return in North Carolina.

Reed, who this week announced his intention to return to the PGA Tour later this year from LIV Golf, would be eligible for the first event of the Tour’s Fall Series, which begins with the debut of the Biltmore Championship Asheville on Sept. 17-20 at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove. The PGA Tour made Reed’s intended comeback official Wednesday

Regardless how he fares this fall, Reed will have a place on the 2027 Tour by virtue of his status as the winner of nine Tour events, including the 2018 Masters.

The Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club is scheduled for Aug. 6-9

College golf season opens in warmer climates

John Brasier
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College golf season opens in warmer climates

With snow and ice on the ground and temperatures falling below freezing when the sun goes down, there’s not much golf going on outdoors in the Triad and throughout much of the country.

But at least one in-state college team has played its first “spring” tournament and others are scheduled to follow this weekend.

Of course, these early tournaments are held in Florida, California, Hawaii and the Caribbean.

The East Carolina women, with senior Macie Burcham (pictured) of Greensboro, finished 12th out of 16 teams Tuesday at the UCF Challenge at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Orlando. The field included six Power 4 teams, plus warm-weather programs South Florida, Florida Gulf Coast, North Florida and South Alabama.

The Pirates shot 34-over-par, 58 shots behind champion Auburn. Burcham shot rounds of 75 and 79 before struggling to 85 as course conditions were tougher in the final round.

Next up, the North Carolina women tee it up Feb. 1 at Grand Reserve in Puerto Rico. On Feb. 2, the High Point men begin play in South Carolina in a field topped by Duke, East Tennessee, College of Charleston and Coastal Carolina at Briar’s Creek in Charleston.

The UNC roster includes freshman Ellen Yu of Greensboro, who played in one tournament in the fall.

Smalley deals with ‘pain in the neck’ prior to PGA Tour opener

John Brasier
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Smalley deals with ‘pain in the neck’ prior to PGA Tour opener

You could describe the last month of Alex Smalley’s somewhat busy holiday vacation as a “pain in the neck.”

On Nov. 26, he bought his “first” house in Jamestown then spent a few weeks figuring out some remodeling plans. After Christmas, he traveled down to practice at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

But on his second day in Florida, he woke up with his neck “locked up.”

“I couldn’t turn my head, so I really couldn’t practice,” the 29-year-old Smalley said during the week of the season-opening Sony Open in Hawaii.

About a week before the Sony Open, he finally was able to practice during a trip to Palm Springs, California. Smalley’s home course is Sedgefield Country Club.

“I only had about four or five days, so I felt like I was cramming for a test,” Smalley said after shooting 64 in the first round at Sony. “I guess I should cram for tests more often.”

For Smalley, it’s been a solid, if unspectacular start. He tied for 40th at Sony and followed with a tie for 44th last weekend at LaQuinta, Calif., earning about $57,000 in the first two weeks.

IT wintry

Bought first house, closed day before Th

Changed flooring and painting, pretty busy figure out in dec

After Christmas, went down to sawgrass 3 or4 4 dayts

Neck locked up

I prob only had four or five ays, so I felt like I was cramming for a test

I woke up second morning, neck locked up , I couldn’t turn my head so I really couldn’tt practice

Palm Springs

I guess I should cram for tests more often

Zalatoris shoots day’s best round at LaQuinta

John Brasier
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Zalatoris shoots day’s best round at LaQuinta

Will Zalatoris bettered almost everyone in the field Sunday in the final round of the PGA Tour’s American Express tournament at LaQuinta, California — including Scottie Scheffler, who won the tournament by four strokes.

But after fighting to make the cut Saturday, Zalatoris was too far behind to challenge the leaders at LaQuinta’s Pete Dye Stadium Course.

Zalatoris, starting on the back nine, shot 8-under-par 64 to finish at 19-under 269, jumping 43 positions to tie for 18th place. The former Wake Forest star shot 31 on the back and 33 on the front.

Alex Smalley, who plays out of Sedgefield Country Club, also rose up the leaderboard, shooting 69 to improve six spots and tie for 44th at 15-under.

Scheffler shot 66 to cruise home on the back nine. Jason Day, who matched Zalatoris for the day’s low round, finished in a tie for second with Ryan Gerard, Matt McCarty and Andrew Putnam.

Zalatoris did catch Blades Brown, the 18-year-old who played with Scheffler in the final group, joining the group at 269 after closing with 74. Si Woo Kim, the third-round leader, shot 72 and tied for sixth place.

Zalatoris makes fabulous finish to join Smalley in PGA Tour final round

John Brasier
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Zalatoris makes fabulous finish to join Smalley in PGA Tour final round

Will Zalatoris made the cut Saturday in his first PGA Tour event of the year in dramatic fashion.

The former Wake Forest star birdied his final two holes in the American Express tournament at the Pete Dye Stadium Course in LaQuinta, California, to shoot 2-under-par 70.

Needing birdie on his final hole, the long par-4 ninth, the 29-year-old Zalatoris ripped a 317-yard drive, followed by a 149-yard approach to within 18 inches for the tap-in birdie to advance to Sunday’s final round at 11-under 205.

At the par-5 eighth, Zalatoris had kept his hopes alive by making a two-putt birdie from 73 feet.

Zalatoris got off to a hot start with 7-under 65 Thursday at LaQuinta Country Club. He dropped back into the pack with 2-under 70 Friday at the Nicklaus Tournament Course.

Alex Smalley, who plays out of Sedgefield, made the cut at 204.

The final round sets up as a potential duel between the world’s top player, Scottie Scheffler, and 18-year-old Blades Brown.

Si Woo Kim takes a one-shot lead over Scheffler and Brown into Sunday at 22-under 194. Eric Cole and Wyndham Clark trail by two shots.

Pinehurst trio to be inducted to Carolinas Hall of Fame

John Brasier
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Pinehurst trio to be inducted to Carolinas Hall of Fame

The Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame will induct three Pinehurst-area legends at 2026 Carolinas Golf Night on Feb. 14 at Pinehurst Resort.

Longtime Carolinas Golf Association executive director Jack Nance (pictured), a former Wake Forest golfer, will join Pinehurst Resort owners and operators Robert Dedman and Robert Dedman Jr.

Nance, who worked for the CGA from the early 1980s until retirement in January 2025, led the CGA as it expanded its membership, enhanced agronomic and handicapping services and elevated the quality of its championships. Formerly in nearby West End, the CGA headquarters are now in Pinehurst.

Nance’s vision was instrumental in constructing the Carolinas Golf House and strengthening relationships throughout the golf community.  

Nance officiated at more than 30 USGA championships, served as President of the International Association of Golf Administrators, and supported endless initiatives to advance women’s, junior, and adaptive golf. His colleagues and peers described him as a mentor, ambassador and steady force who elevated every person and program he touched.  

Dedman, a popular director of golf at Pinehurst, acquired the resort in 1984 and steered it from decline to attracting the 1999 U.S. Open to Pinehurst’s No. 2 course.

Under Dedman Jr., Pinehurst has hosted an extraordinary slate of championships, including the 2005 U.S. Open, the unprecedented back-to-back 2014 U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open, and the 2019 U.S. Amateur.

Pinehurst No. 2 was designated the USGA’s first U.S. Open Anchor Site under his leadership, securing future championships in 2029, 2035, 2041, and 2047. Dedman Jr.’s strategic acquisitions, such as Pinehurst No. 9, and his ongoing reinvestment in resort infrastructure, have ensured Pinehurst retains its global prominence. His approach to ownership has preserved Pinehurst’s heritage while preparing it for generations to come.  

With subtle facelift, Harbour Town plays same, only better

John Brasier
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With subtle facelift, Harbour Town plays same, only better

With its landmark, red-and-white striped lighthouse standing only yards behind its 18th green along the Calibogue Sound, Harbour Town Golf Links has long been a beacon of golf in the Carolinas.

Now, approaching 60 years old, the Pete Dye/Jack Nicklaus design reopened in November on Hilton Head Island after a subtle, but effective facelift from a fitting course doctor, Davis Love III, five-time champion of the RBC Heritage Classic, an annual upper-tier event on the PGA Tour.

TriadGolf.com visited Harbour Town in December hoping to see much the same classic layout, with minimal tweaks. I’d been fortunate to play the course perhaps a dozen times previously in media outings to promote the Heritage.

We weren’t disappointed. Harbour Town remains the classic, seaside shotmakers’ course that debuted in 1969. But with new infrastructure.

The routing and strategy for the holes remained much the same. This renovation didn’t include large-scale tree removal. Hitting fairways still isn’t enough — approaches often requiring hitting the target area in the short grass.

Bulkheads for greens set above hazards and bridges were rebuilt. New irrigation was installed. Railroad ties for the bulkhead was replaced. Some shrunken greens and bunkers were rebuilt to original size and shape, restoring lost pin positions at modern maintenance standards. Stack-sodded bunker faces, replaced over the years, were restored.

Though slightly larger, the course’s trademark small greens remain TifEagle Bermuda with winter overseeding with Poa Trivialis and the fairways are still Celebration and 419 Bermuda replaced with Perennial Rye in the winter. For maintenance reasons, the stacked sod on bunker faces were synthetic turf, a change we didn’t notice on the course.

Though known for requiring accuracy over power, par-71 Harbour Town plays to almost 7,100 yards with a 75.6 rating and 148 slope from the tips, with other men’s tees measuring around 6,600 and 6,300 yards.

The par-3 17th requires an approach over marsh and sand often into a strong ocean breeze. Photo by Bill Hornstein/Sea Pines

So what changes come into play?

Well, a big live oak was uprooted and moved 20 feet or so left to tighten the approach on the right to the par-5 fifth hole. At No. 7, another tree was moved to provide a tunnel feeling on the tee.

The trio of windy closing holes remains truly special, a place to make longtime memories. After satisfying pars at the dogleg left, par-4 16th and the dangerous par-3 17th, I bailed out right away from the beach on my approach at the signature 18th and failed to get up and down.

Harbour Town isn’t a course many of us will play very often. The rack rate in December was around $500, tip not included, for forecaddies, who provide yardages that mitigate the inconvenience of the course’s cart path-only policy. Sea Pines Resort lodging packages can make the golf fees seem more palatable.

Sea Pines’ other two courses, Heron Point and Atlantic Dunes, have been transformed over the years from typical resort-style courses to more challenging, upper-tier layouts.

Current operators hope to buy Triad muni; keep course open, affordable

John Brasier
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Current operators hope to buy Triad muni; keep course open, affordable

A municipal Triad golf course known for its affordability may soon be sold to an experienced group of golf business professionals who will keep the course open to the public.

The town of Troy will hold a public meeting on February 2 to receive comment on the proposed sale of Denson’s Creek Golf Course (pictured above) to a private ownership group that would agree to continue to operate the property as a golf course with a restaurant.

Though not written in the public notice, Troy town clerk Amy Vuncannon confirmed that the proposed ownership group includes Art Colasanti, a veteran PGA pro who has operated the course through a lease since 2024. The clubhouse restaurant, Sweet Tea Grille, would remain leased to a separate company.

Other members of the proposed ownership group are Chris Humble and Chris Cissel, PGA professionals who were district sales managers for Yamaha Golf Car in North Carolina. Humble and Cissel left Yamaha in September to form TYCE Golf and join Colasanti in the bid for Densons Creek ownership.

Humble, a former assistant pro at Greensboro Country Club, has known Colasanti, who bought Whispering Woods Golf Club in Whispering Pines in 2020, for many years. Colasanti worked 32 years for ClubCorp., including a stint when the company owned Pinehurst Resort, and later served as director of golf at Rumbling Bald Resort on Lake Lure for more than six years.

Since Colasanti leased Densons Creek, the course has increased annual play to about 15,000 rounds, almost double the pre-lease numbers, according to Humble.

“It has a lot of potential,” Humble said of Densons Creek. “I think this golf course is a hidden gem.”

Opened in 1952 as Montgomery Country Club, the property was renamed under town ownership in 2009. Stretching to 6,550 yards, the par-72 course plays to a 71.7 rating and 124 slope with undulating terrain and bent grass greens. Phil McCriston designed the course.

A check of the Densons Creek online tee sheet shows current weekday times priced at $25 in the morning and $20 in the afternoon. Humble said prices don’t eclipse $35 on weekdays or $70 during the peak season.

He said keeping the course in good condition and making golf more affordable are important goals of the prospective ownership group.

Cissel added that the new ownership group would phase in improvements throughout the course.

“We want to keep hospitality at a high level, keep the good vibe in here,” Humble said. “We want to keep golf affordable. People love that. We want to convince people who might have gotten out of game, to get back in it.”

Though Densons Creek sits in a low-population area hit hard by a declining textile industry in recent decades, Humble said the quality of the course and the low rates have attracted play from as far away as Greensboro, Charlotte, Raleigh, Pinehurst and Wilmington.

Earlier this week, TriadGolf.com reported that another Montgomery County golf course, Tillery Tradition Country Club near Mt. Gilead, became private after 25 years accepting outside play.

The private Old North State Club layout is the only other golf course in Montgomery.

Upscale Triad course goes private

John Brasier
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Upscale Triad course goes private

A longtime, semi-private Triad golf course has gone private, effective the beginning of the year.

Tillery Tradition (pictured above), located near Mount Gilead in Montgomery County, made the change after operating accepting limited public play since opening in 2025.

Brandon Turner, Tillery’s director of golf, said the change had been the goal of local ownership, which took over in 2021.

Located next to Lake Tillery, the course traverses undulating terrain on the western edge of the Uwharrie Mountains. Generous spacing and tree-lined fairways provide a tranquil setting.

The conversion to private status may be a product of migration from Charlotte, just over 50 miles away. Old North State Club is only 10 minutes away by boat — the Pee Dee River connects Lake Tillery to Badin Lake.

“All the suburbs of Charlotte are coming this way,” Turner said. “We’ve got new subdivisions under construction. The area is definitely blowing up.”

Turner said membership applications are available. Designed by Carl Holston, the course measures 6,750 yards with a 71.3 rating and a 135 slope from the longest of four tees.

Smalley drops at Sony Open despite steady final round

John Brasier
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0
Smalley drops at Sony Open despite steady final round

Alex Smalley shot even-par 70 in Sunday’s final round, but fell 20 spots into a tie for 40th at the Sony Open.

The former Duke standout, a member at Sedgefield Country Club, finished the tournament at 5-under 275. Smalley, who opened the tournament Thursday with 64 at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu to tie for sixth, made two birdies and two bogeys Sunday afternoon.

The course, which yielded an average score over-par on a windy Saturday, played more than two strokes under par for the final round.

Chris Gotterup shot 64 Sunday to win with 264.

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