By Bill Hunter
Dave Forbis has visited the peaks-and the valleys-in the game of golf, but he insists he's never had more fun than he's having right now.
Forbis, a PGA lifetime member, has organized a tour for senior golfers in the Triad area, and membership in the over-50 group is booming. In fact, a membership cap has been set at 150, and the roster, as of a couple of weeks ago, was already at 121.
The new group is called, fittingly, the Senior Amateur Golf Tour (SAGT), and members thus far range from 50 to 81 years of age. And the members' hometowns are as varied. "We have members from the sandhills to the foothills," Forbis said, mentioning Southern Pines, Laurinburg, Raleigh, Cary, Durham, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Kernersville and Burlington among those cities represented in the group.
"Some openings might be available as this issue of Triad Golf Today hits the pro shops, so interested seniors should write or give us a call as soon as possible. At the least, they can be put on a waiting list," Forbis stressed.
Opening date for the 20-tournament 1998 season of the Senior Amateur Golf Tour is Wednesday, March 25, at Carolina Lakes G.C. near Sanford. Among the other layouts to be played are such highly acclaimed courses as Hyland Hills (Southern Pines), The Challenge (Graham), River Landing (Wallace), The Gauntlet (Southport), Stoney Creek (Sedalia) and Mill Creek (Mebane).
Forbis, realizing there are many senior golf organizations in the Triad, most playing only local courses, declared that the SAGT differs from most in several aspects. "Foremost is the fact that we play a more upscale type of golf course. The fee is a little higher, but in golf, like everything else, you more or less get what you pay for." Annual membership in the SAGT is $30.
"Also," noted Forbis, "our play will be gross and net in each of five handicap divisions. Those divisions will not be determined by age, Forbis pointed out, because, "there's lots of 70-and-over golfers out there who shoot regularly in the 70s and low 80s. Too, there are quite a few between 50 and 60 who shoot in the 90s or over. (one exception to this rule is that a Super Senior prize will be given each tournament for the best age 70-and-over score).
Handicap divisions of play are 0-8, 9-14, 15-20, 21-26 and 26-over, and members will receive a membership card, handicap card and a regular newsletter. SAGT logo caps, shirts, towels and wind shirts will be available soon, Forbis noted, adding that a free dinner party will be held at the end of the season.
"I'm real happy that the SAGT has been greeted with such enthusiasm," said Forbis. "I had no idea that it would take off like this, especially during the winter."
Perhaps he should have, because there already are three senior organizations in his home county, Alamance, one with well over 300 members. Still, close to half of the membership to date is from Alamance. "I do know one thing," Forbis said., "Alamance is the golfingest county I've ever heard of."
His office is in his home in Graham, and he admits his toughest chore has been learning to operate a computer. "With an organization like this, it's a necessity. Keeping correct handicaps is a must."
Forbis thought his golf career, which actually began almost 40 years ago, was over when he had a second heart attack in 1990. "The first one was a bad one," he recalls, "and it took some quick action (an injection to unclog an artery) by a Burlington doctor to save my life. I had the angioplasty procedure after the second attack and was told to take it easy."
That he did. He has a part-time job with TH International Corporation in New York, taking the firm's customers out to play various golf courses once or twice a month. "It's a PR job, actually. They call me their 'corporate pro.' I told my wife, Becky, that I'd like to be more involved with golf, and she replied: 'Why don't you get together a senior tour?' "
The Senior Amateur Golf Tournament was born.
Life's Roller Coaster
Forbis was born in High Point 63 years ago but has called Burlington or Graham home since he was two months old.
Other than a few rounds at the old Dogwood 9-hole course in Mebane, he was a neophyte at the game when he was drafted and sent to Fort Sill, Okla. "The guy in the bunk above me was Billy Dunn, a former national junior champion, and he talked me into playing with him.
"With Dunn's help, I improved, and he asked me to enter the Fourth Army tournament. I shot qualifying rounds of 77-78 to become the fifth alternate." Forbis said. "As a member of the Fort Sill 10-man team, I never put on a uniform again. I had to play 18 holes a day and practice four hours-that was my eight hours of duty. I got to where I was shooting par or under most of the time."
But when Forbis left the army in 1958, he became a draftsman for the Burlington Western Electric plant for the next seven years. He did join the Alamance C.C. and maintained a pretty sharp game. Better still, he became good friends with the Alamance pro, John Schoonmaker. "John told me to turn pro and I could have an assistant's job at the club." So, Forbis was back in business.
In those days, becoming a pro was no problem. "All I had to do was announce I was turning pro, serve an apprenticeship and attend a business school. Earlier, a prospective pro didn't even have to attend the school.
"Back then," Forbis recalled, "all that was required to play the tour were letters from two Class A pros stating that I could play well enough not to embarrass the organization. I got my tour card and actually played in four GGOs." He qualified once and received exemptions three times. He also played in the Bahamas Open in 1962, where he met well-known teaching and playing pro Bob Toski.
"Toski mentioned a job opening as a teaching pro at the Wee Burn C.C. in Darien, Conn., so I headed north and took a position just vacated by Bob Goalby. Meanwhile, Toski mentioned that they needed an assistant in the winter months at the C.C. of Miami. So for a year I worked at Darien in the summer and at Miami in the winters."
Forbis' heart was in North Carolina, however, and when Schoonmaker asked him to come back as acting pro at Alamance while he took a six-month leave of absence (he told Dave confidentially he would not return), he accepted. Later, he was named head pro and held that post for seven years before resigning to join George Bason, who was building a course in Graham called Piedmont Crescent (now Quarry Hills). "I sold about 90 percent of the memberships at that club prior to its opening," he said.
He remained as head pro for a year after the course opened before moving to Southern Pines to work for financier-developer O.L. Fryman, who put him in charge of developing the popular Hyland Hills complex. As general manager of the entire operation, Forbis hired architect Tom Jackson, and the course opened in 1973 and prospered.
"Mr. Fryman told me that since I built the operation, it would someday be mine," Forbis recalled. "But the stock market crash of 1974 saw the bulk of Fryman's stock-he'd borrowed money using it as collateral-plummet from $149 a share to around $60. Banks called for payment and Fryman declared bankruptcy. Maurice Brackett purchased the course and Dave was out of a job.
Undaunted, Forbis got an option on 90 acres of land near the circle at Pinehurst and had Tom Jackson build the 9-hole Midland C.C. course. Finally, he believed, things were going his way. It was 1975 and he was selling half-acre building lots for $15,000. But the man who owned the property died and another dream was shattered. The property was sold to a Pinehurst realty company, and the subsequent owners reaped a fortune. The price of lots definitely skyrocketed.
"I made a big mistake there," Forbis admitted. "I was only interested in the golf end at Midland and should have gotten a partner to handle the business. But… ."
It was back to Piedmont Crescent from 1980 until 1986, and that's when he had his first heart attack. Doctors told him to get away from the pressure, so he retired and became a PGA Lifetime Member.
Now it's a different Dave Forbis, busily preparing a tour for Triad golfers. More importantly, it's a happy Dave Forbis.
Dave and Becky live at 216 N. Marshall Street in Graham (27253). A son, Billy, owns Billy's Music World in Aberdeen. He and his wife Theresa presented him with grandsons Luke, 8, and Matt, 5.
Name: Senior Amateur Golf Tour
Director: Dave Forbis
Address: 216 N. Marshall Street
Graham, NC 27253
Tel. No. (336) 229-9750
Fax: (336) 229-9750
Yearly dues: $30
Age requirement: 50 and over
Number of tourneys: 20
Format: Medal play, gross and net. Five divisions
according to handicap-not age
To join: By phone or letter
1998 schedule
Mar. 25 Carolina Lakes
Apr. 9 Asheboro
Apr. 22 Olde Homeplace (formerly Homestead)
May 13 The Challenge
May 28 Hillandale
June 11 Hyland Hills
June 25 Holly Ridge
July 9 Mill Creek
July 22,23 The Gauntlet
Aug. 6 Stoney Creek
Aug. 21 Caswell Pines
Sept. 2 The Neuse
Sept. 17 Quail Ridge
Oct. 1 River Landing
Oct. 14,15 Senior Tour Championship in Burlington
Oct. 22 Meadow Greens
Nov. 5 Sourwood Forest
Nov. 19 Siler City C.C.
Dec. 2 Whispering Woods
End of Article
By Ronnie Musselwhite
In golf, as in life, children are the future. To ensure the longevity of the game, it must be nurtured and passed down from generation to generation. For these very reasons, Triad Golf Today magazine is sponsoring the Triad Golf Today Junior Tour.
"We felt the need to help promote junior golf in the Triad area," says Jay Allred, publisher. "In the past, there have been smaller circuits, but there's never been an area-wide tour. We're just trying to make a commitment to improve junior golf by giving kids an outlet to play competitively."
The new Triad Golf Today Junior Tour is actually an enhancement of the Guilford County Tour, which was founded by Wendell Welch in 1996. Open to boys and girls ages 6 to 18, the junior tour will retain much of the same format established by Welch, including its association with the Carolinas Golf Association. "Our goals for the Triad Golf Today Junior Tour are the same (as they were for the Guilford County Tour)," Welch says. "We promote golf as an extension of life and working toward being gentlemen and ladies. We want to teach the game so boys and girls will know how to conduct themselves both on the course and off."
Age groups for boys are: 9 and under, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15 and 16-18; girls are grouped 13 and under and 14 and above. The first six tournaments are one-day, stroke-play events, while the final is a two-day, match-play outing. Points are awarded for each tournament, and following the final match, a points champion will be crowned. The top four golfers from each age group will then compete against South Carolina's best in The Crown Cup Championship, which operates under the same rules as The Ryder Cup.
While the divisions will remain the same, the founders hope two things will change: media coverage and teaching of the game. "What we envisioned was a two-phase approach: one being the tour and the other being free instructional clinics for kids wanting to learn about golf," Allred says. "We're still developing phase two, but we hope to have everything in place by this summer. Mebane Ham, Andrée Martin, Jimmy Sowers, Ellen Lapierre and I created a plan in 1997 and now we are working at executing it."
To get the new tour kick-started, the first tournament at Pine Knolls (Sunday, May 17) will include a media day and rules seminar presented by the Carolinas Golf Association. Members of the local media will be invited to meet and play a round with the juniors, allowing one-on-one interaction and improving their understanding of junior golf. Eventually, Allred hopes area television stations will use coverage from the events as lead-ins for sports and backdrops for various segments of the news to promote junior golf.
The breadth of the tour is another area of improvement. "We're trying to spread the events around this year to cover all areas," Allred notes. "With the added publicity, we feel it's reasonable to field full tournaments at each outing." This year's tournaments will be held throughout the region, from Burlington to Winston-Salem, and even Julian. However, boys and girls from other areas and states are welcome. Understandably, a broader geographic scope should also bolster the number of contestants. Last year, the Guilford County Tour averaged between 60 and 80 participants at each tournament. Eventually, Welch and Allred hope, the Triad Golf Today Junior Tour will have 150 or more regular participants.
One of the targeted groups to grow is girls. Over 200 college scholarships went unused last year by NCAA women's golf teams because of a lack of qualified golfers. "More girls are starting to play golf, but we're really hoping to attract more to the game and the tour," Welch says.
Entry fees for each event (including greens fee) are $25, or $150 for all seven. For more information about the Triad Golf Today Junior Tour, call Wendell Welch at (336) 674-1900.
1998 Triad Golf Today Junior Tour Schedule
May 17 Pine Knolls Golf Club Kernersville, N.C.
June 8 Winston Lake Golf Club Winston-Salem, N.C.
June 17 Gillespie Park Golf Club Greensboro, N.C.
June 29 Long Creek Golf Club Winston-Salem, N.C.
July 13 Holly Ridge Golf Club Archdale, N.C.
July 28 Indian Valley Golf Club Burlington, N.C.
August 11-12 Walnut Woods Golf Club Julian, N.C.
End of Article
By Max Ulrich
The Winston-Salem Chapter of the Executive Women's Golf Association (EWG) is beginning its second year. Mary Lytton has been named president, and a full schedule is set.
Lytton grew up in golf, as her father was the head pro at the Benvenue Country Club in Rocky Mount for a number of years. She played for the golf team at the Rocky Mount
Academy and then on the varsity women's golf team at Appalachian State University.
After graduation in 1994, she worked as a golf equipment representative for six different lines and covered the two Carolinas. When the First Tee Pro Shop opened last spring on Robinhood Road in Winston-Salem, Lytton was hired as a sales rep.
The Winston-Salem chapter of the EWG has grown to 40 members, and according to Lytton, they hope to continue to grow. An agreement has been reached with the Reynolds Park Golf Club to be the association's home course where clinics and evening rounds of golf will be conducted.
Clinics under the tutelage of the Reynolds Park pro, Greg Wood, and his staff will be held over a six-week period on Tuesdays at 5:00 pm beginning March 17. Thursday evening golf matches will begin on April 16.
Women interested in joining the EWGA may call Lytton at work, (336) 659-9280, or at home in the evenings, (336) 760-2799.
Piedmont Triad Chapter of Executive Women's Golf Association 1998 Season
Second Annual EWG Kick Off Party Thursday, March 12, from 7 to 9 pm. Reynolds Park Golf Course, Winston-Salem
Guest Speaker: Greg Wood, Head Golf Professional and General Manager, Reynolds Park Golf Course, Winston-Salem. Heavy hors d'oeuvres provided and cash bar.
For reservations, call Mary Lytton at (336) 760-2799 or (336) 659-9280
Tuesday Golf Clinics -start March 17 at 5:45 pm, Reynolds Park Golf Course, Winston-Salem
Six-week clinic, $50 or cost per clinic $10
After work 9-Hole Golf Outings: Reynolds Park Golf Course, Winston-Salem. Thursdays starting April 16. Tee times start at 5:30 pm.
Saturday Afternoon Golf Outings-Pine Knolls Golf Course, Kernersville. Starts April 18; Tee times 3 pm.
Monthly EWG Golf Outings-3rd Saturday of each month
May 16-Olde Homeplace Golf Club (formerly Homestead) in Winston-Salem
June 20-Oak Valley Golf Club in Advance
July 18-Oak Hollow Golf Club in High Point
Aug. 15-Meadowlands Golf Course in Wallburg
Sept. 19-Bryan Park Golf Club in Browns Summit
Oct. 17-Greensboro National Golf Club in Greensboro (to be confirmed)
Information: Mary Lytton, EWG President: (h) (336) 760-2799; (w) (336) 659-9280
Trish Hubner, EWG Membership: (336) 659-7603.
End of Article
By Max Ulrich
The Triad Businesswomen's Golf Association is at the starting gate for a busy season.
The association is headed by Mary Beth McGirr and Andrée Martin, both LPGA Class A professionals. Other LPGA pros involved include Jana Johnson, Gretchen Pugh, Ellen Lapierre and Melissa Whitmire. Their goal is to help beginning lady golfers get a good start in the game and to help more experienced golfers improve their games.
The TBGA was begun in 1992, but sort of fell apart until last year when it was revitalized with many new members.
In February a focus group met to provide feedback to the leaders.
In March, there will be two kickoff gatherings. The first will be held March 23 (5:30pm - 6:15pm) at Stoney Creek; the second is scheduled March 26 at the Bur-Mil Park
in Greensboro at that same hour.
These kickoff meetings are designed to let members get acquainted. Also, LPGA pros will be on hand for a free clinic.
According to McGirr, the TBGA is an organization designed to bring more women into golf and to help them become more proficient at the game.
For more information about the group, McGirr welcomes inquiries. Her number in Greensboro is 336-854-9625. Andrée Martin may be reached at 336-913-4159.
End of Article
By Bill Sugg
Expansion is on Tour Director Wayne Moore's mind with the Triangle Golf Tour. 1998 looks like it is going to be the biggest in the five-year history of this regional tour. Begun in 1994, the TGT has grown exponentially each year. From a first-year payout of $12,000, the tour paid out $166,000 last year. Moore expects to pay out around $250,000 in prize money and merchandise this year.
While the schedule is pretty well set, with 54 tournaments scheduled, Moore said that there is a possibility that as many as 60 tournaments might be played. More than 24 courses in the eastern, Triangle and Piedmont regions of North Carolina are being used. Most of the March tourneys will be played in the Fayetteville area.
Along with the addition of several new tournaments and venues, Moore has expanded the two-man team championships from one to four. The team championship concept was tried for the first time in 1997 and proved popular. "We had best-ball first day, super-ball second day. They seemed to enjoy that: the format and the participation with a partner," he said. This year's initial two-man team championship will be held March 30-31 at Treyburn C.C. in Durham.
Chris Hockaday of Angier was last year's big winner in the Professional Division, taking home $12,212. He also captured the TGT Points Challenge, adding $2,000 to his winnings.
Ray Perry of Fayetteville won the Senior Professional Division with $5,425. He also
won his division at the Triangle Tour Championship. Scott Medlin won the Triangle Tour Championship in the pro division. The TGT Championship was held Nov. 16-17 at King's Grant Golf and Country Club in Fayetteville.
Harold Thomas of Danville, Va., came in roughly $675 shy of winning the most total money on the Tour. He played in both the Professional Division and the Professional Senior Division, placing second in the former and third in the latter. His total winnings for 1997 were $13,540, including his winnings in the TGT Points Challenge.
Accessibility to information about TGT is expanding. Moore is working on a Website which should hit cyberspace within the next few weeks.
For further information, Moore can be reached by phone at 1-888-TGT-6909, or (919) 471-2432. E-mail can be addressed to trianglegolftour@mindspring.com
Triangle Golf Tour 1997 Money List
Professional Division (Top 15)
Chris Hockaday, Angier: $12,212
Harold Thomas, Danville, Va.: $9,785
Duane Bock, East Hampton, N.Y.: $8,128
Troy Ferris, Norfolk, Va.: $7,570
Bob Groff, Reidsville: $7,106
John Hurst, Woodbridge, Va.: $6,002
Cortney Brisson, Dublin: $5,375
Mike Lawson, Raleigh: $4,652
Scott Medlin, Rockingham: $4,525
Tony Parrish, Smithfield: $4,156
Brian Sharp, Winston-Salem: $4,108
George Carroll, Mt. Olive: $4,050
Bryan Wright, Fayetteville: $3,825
Vance Heafner, Cary: $3,646
Senior Professional Division
Ray Perry, Fayetteville: $5,425
Ken Watkins, Winterville: $2,875
Harold Thomas, Danville, Va.: $2,445
George Katsoudas, Fayetteville $1,530
Roy Lovern, Blacksburg, Va.: $575
End of Article
Ben Payne of Forest Oaks Country Club announced that the men's Carolinas Interclub Net Match Play will expand its 1998 season; beginning its home-and-home matches in April and concluding with playoffs in October. These weekend events, sponsored by FAIRway Services, will provide your club the opportunity to play in a Ryder Cup style team competition at some of the most exciting courses in the North and South Carolina.
Each club will submit a roster prior to the season, with at least 25 participants with handicaps through 18. Sixteen players from each club will compete in home-and-home matches in their local areas (i.e. within 50 miles). Points will be awarded to the winners of the two individual and the one four-ball matches in each foursome. Accumulated points will determine the team winner of the home-and-home competition. Teams with the most wins after completing the local matches will advance, in a like manner, through the sectional and regional playoffs until a Carolinas Interclub Net Match Play Champion is determined at one of the most prestigious clubs in the Carolinas.
Bermuda Run Country Club of Advance, N.C., won the '97 championship at the spectacular Grandover Resort. It will defend its title.
If your club is interested in participating or has questions, please reply (denoting a contact person) to Ben Payne, 4002 Smithfield Drive, Greensboro, NC 27406 or call (336) 676-PAR5. Your immediate response will ensure that your club is included in the plans for the '98 season.
End of Article
By Max Ulrich
Of course, tournaments are the backbone of the Carolinas Golf Association, which is headquartered in West Bend, N.C. It serves, as the name implies, both North and South Carolina.
Executive Director Jack Nance heads a staff of eight. The CGA was formed in 1909 and is supported by memberships of golf clubs throughout the Carolinas. There are no individual memberships in the association.
Nance is a Wake Forest University product, having played for Jesse Haddock's 1980 ACC championship team. As in most situations involving golf, winter months are a bit slow and Nance was able to take some time to talk about the CGA-where it's been and what's ahead.
The CGA started with five members. However, going into the 1998 season, more than 600 golf clubs support it. And although the main thrust of the association is planning and sponsoring tournaments, Nance declares, "We are trying to branch out to our member clubs to meet more of the needs of their members."
The CGA executive director says it is the second largest golf association in the country and they provide 174,000 handicap cards to members of golf clubs who are members of the CGA. A goal is to expand this service, in keeping with the high-tech computer age. Nance says they have 400 computers installed at member clubs to create a linkage for immediate and accurate handicap information.
He emphasizes, "With the hundreds of golfers who play in CGA tournaments, this is a great help, and we are hoping to expand this network to include all of our members."
"Through this system," Nance adds, "when you play a round at an out-of-town course, you could post the score right there instead of carrying all the information (scores, slope rating, course rating, etc.) back to your home course."
Nance states that some golf courses are already "on line" so that information is available almost instantaneously. He says about six or seven clubs are doing this. "It's almost like a walkie-talkie on a long-distance scale." And looking to the future in a very positive way, he says plans are already under way to create a "National Golf Network."
Although tournaments are the monumental function of the CGA., the organization also spends a great deal of time developing rules and regulations for those tournaments. Much of that involves an equitable system for determining handicaps.
Golf courses have had ratings for years, but it was sort of an "iffy" thing to determine the difficulty of a given track just by its rating. So the "slope" rating was invented. And if a golf course is to be listed as to its true difficulty, then, according to Nance, both the course and the slope ratings must be calculated. COMPUTERS!
Once a course has been studied, the information necessary to establish its most accurate rating is fed into the computer which, in turn, spews out the true rating for handicap purposes. Nance avows, "We probably couldn't do it without computers."
A large number of volunteers are needed to rate a course. Typically it takes four people to do it-following certain procedures-and the process normally takes about three hours. Nance says that although it's possible to rate a course without playing, it is very helpful to tour the course while making notes. If the persons have time, they play the course.
Course ratings are vital to the orderly running of tournaments played with a handicap format. The rating process is a service provided by the CGA for member clubs. A small fee for rating a course is charged golf clubs that are not members.
Volunteers are still needed for this service of the CGA. Anyone interested may call (910) 673-1000 or fax (910) 673-1001.
End of Article
By Max Ulrich
On April Fools' day, the Tar Heel Cup will hold forth at Myers Park C.C. in Charlotte. The Carolinas Senior Four-Ball (April 14-15) will use the Florence C.C. in Florence, S.C., while the North Carolina Mid-Amateur (April 17-19) will be played at the Greenville Golf and Country Club in Greenville, N.C. On April 29 through May 3, the Camden C.C. in Camden, S.C., will host the Carolinas Four-Ball.
End of Article
By Bill Sugg
There is a new mini-tour. The former PowerBilt Tour has a new name and a new owner. In September 1997 Rudy Slucker bought the PowerBilt Tour and changed its name. It is now the TearDrop Tour. (This tour began as the Hurricane Tour several years ago.)
The TearDrop will be playing 45 tourneys in the Southeast as well as 25 tournaments in California. Southeast venues that have been set include courses in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. In many places, TearDrop events follow the Nike Tour or PGA Tour Monday qualifiers.
The opening tourney in our area will be held in April after the GGCC qualifier. The venue has not been set, but the dates are firm: April 22-24. A series of five tournaments is scheduled in the Pinehurst area during May and June, with the TearDrop returning to Greensboro in late June.
Slucker is beefing up the TearDrop. Purses have been doubled. Prize money ranges from $5,000 to $25,000 per tournament. Prize money should exceed $3 million.
Slucker has been on an acquisition tear over the last several months. In September he bought the PowerBilt Tour; in October he purchased Armour Golf, followed by Ram Golf in December and the California TearDrop Tour in January. He has invested $30 million so far.
According to Dara O'Neill, tournament director, there is a lot of excitement being generated by the Teardrop Tour. About 115 players a week will be competing. He mentioned that 140 players entered a competition in Kissimee, Fla., earlier this year. An alternate list had to be prepared, a first for the Tour.
For more information, call O'Neill at 1-800-803-7767.
End of Article