Sandhills Insider

BY HOWARD WARD

Maples company purchases, renames Aberdeen course: The Dan Maples Design Company of Pinehurst has purchased the financially troubled Sandhills Golf Club located in Pinebluff on Highway 1 just outside Aberdeen and renamed it The Bluff.

According to Bob Leidigh, Maples CEO, plans are to return the course to prime condition and make it into a low-cost course for golfers who don’t like to “pay $75 for a round of golf.”

“We’re going to advertise it as a place where you can play a round of golf for as little as $15-$20 and enjoy yourself,” Leidigh said. “We think there’s a place for a course like this in the Pinehurst area.”

2007 U.S. Amateur: Two big news items came out of the Sandhills in mid-April. First was the announcement that Pinehurst No. 2 has been selected as the site of the 2007 U.S. Amateur, the oldest of the USGA’s 13 national championships. The second was the official unveiling of the new and improved Pinehurst No. 7 course, which was renovated by Rees Jones.

The announcement of the U.S. Am in 2007 will be part of a busy summer for the region as it’s also the same year the U.S. Women’s Open will return for a third time to Pine Needles. The women’s championship will be played in late June or early July; the U.S. Am will be conducted Aug. 20-26. There will be 36-holes of stroke play at both No. 2 and No. 4, with all four days of match play at No. 2.  “We at Pinehurst are pleased to have been selected as the site of one of the greatest championships in all of golf,” said Pat Corso, president and CEO of Pinehurst, Inc. “The principles of amateur golf are at the very core of Pinehurst values.”

The unveiling of the new No. 7 gives Pinehurst four premium courses — Nos. 2, 4, 7 and 8 — at the famed resort. Jones, who also led the initial design of No. 7 in 1986, said he was happy to have a mulligan. “It was nice to be able to go back and improve what we had done before,” he said. “Most of the work was done with bunkering and with all of the greens. I think it’s a great championship golf course.”

 Tin Whistles: Donna Andrews, current president of the LPGA, was the guest speaker at the annual Tin Whistles banquet at Pinehurst Country Club April 8. The Tin Whistles club is a century-old organization of Pinehurst members who hold several tournaments and functions annually and also endow scholarships for deserving youngsters in the area.

Andrews, a native of Lynchburg, Va., who has made her home in Pinehurst since graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1989, was elected president of the LPGA last winter and will serve a two-year term.

A six-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Andrews seemed destined for greatness after a three-victory season in 1994, including the Nabisco Dinah Shore, one of the Tour’s majors. Injuries set her back, but she has shown signs recently of regaining winning form.

“I love coming home to Pinehurst and my horses and spending time with friends more than any tournament I’ve won,” she told the large audience. “Coming here puts my life and the game I play in perspective.”

Andrews spoke on several topics, including Annika Sorenstam’s decision to play in the PGA Tour’s Colonial Invitational and the Martha Burk/Augusta National controversy.

“I’m very proud of Annika for deciding to play in the Colonial,” she said. “She’s doing it to challenge herself. She’s doing it for all the right reasons. I guess we weren’t challenging her enough on the Tour; she won 11 tournaments last year. I told the girls we needed to step it up so that Annika doesn’t have to go somewhere else for a challenge.

Moore matches: The inaugural Moore County Two-Person Team Match Play Tournament is history, and the twosome of Bob Klug and Dr. Justin Bode made it a memorable one with a dramatic upset victory in the championship flight.