By Jay Allred
Triad Golf Today Magazine is proud to have had its Web site selected as one of the top 500 Web sites for golf lovers on the Internet. There are over one million golf-related Web sites and for us to have been chosen is quite an honor. Check it out on http://www.mispress.com/golf. We are in the magazine chapter. There is also a book which covers these 500 sites, Golf on the Web. It is available at most area bookstores for $16.95. It's a great Christmas gift for the surfing golfer!
While you are on the Web, don't forget to check out the Triad Golf Today Web site: http://www.triadgolf.com
Our publication made the front page of Triad Business News, on Oct. 3. In a fine piece by Karl Kunkel, you can find out more about the history and background of our magazine by viewing their site at http://www.hpe.com/hpe/tbn/golf10197.html
Kim Andrews of Occoneechee Golf Course recently passed her PAT and written LPGA test to become an apprentice.
Pine Knolls' Ellen Lapierre has been selected as the interim golf coach at UNCG. She replaces Ann Kelly, who is moving to assume the golf coach position at the University of Colorado. Lapierre will start her new duties on Nov. 6. "I want to devote full time to it," she said. "It is something I've always wanted to do."
Johnny Budwine, pro at Greensboro Golf Center, and Nancy Gowdy were married on Sept. 27. Congratulations!
Expect a wetter, cooler winter due to the effects of El Niņo. This phenomenon is a warming of the waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean. It can have a major effect on the weather throughout the world. Agronomists are suggesting that mower heights be raised to 3/4 inch for the fairways and 2 inches for the rough. These grass lengths should provide greater insulation.
First Tee Golf Shop in Winston-Salem will have an open house on Saturday, Nov. 8.
Softspikes were made mandatory at The Challenge at Hideaway Farms beginning Oct. 1. Cross Creek Country Club will implement a soft-spike policy on Jan. 1.
The Lexington-Davidson chapter of the American Red Cross and Fox 8 will sponsor a driving range and celebrity "Turkey" shoot on Saturday, Nov. 22, from 10am to 4pm at the Briar Hill Golf Facility in Lexington. Featured will be long drive and closest to the pin competitions, a putting contest for kids 11 and under, and a "Hit the Celebrity" to win a turkey or other prizes. Call 910-248-2205 for more information.
A golf cart theft ring is at work in South Carolina. In excess of 75 golf carts have recently been stolen from clubs in that state. The thieves have targeted Club Cars and Yamahas primarily. In many cases, the thieves pose as golfers, take the carts out, and put them on trailers parked in the woods. Occasionally, facilities without adequate security have had carts stolen at night.
Congratulations are in order for the following professionals who were elected to membership in the PGA during the past few months: Jeffrey M. Smith, Pine Tree G.C., Robert L. Johnson, Arrowhead G.C., and Joseph G. Lane, Challenge at Hideaway Farm.
Movement is the order of the day for many club professionals. The following changes have been noted in our area. Jim Clodfelter has moved from Sumner Hills G.C. to Hickory Hills G &C.C., Brad Edwards from Cross Creek C.C. to Mount Airy C.C., Bill Oakley from unattached to Twin Oaks G.C., Steve DeWitt from Greensboro C.C. to Stryker G.C., Wes Husk from Winding Creek G.C. to Woodlake C.C. and Danny Barrett from unattached to Woodlake Total Performance G.S.
The Crossings at Grove Park, Durham's new Ron Garl-designed course, will have a Nov. 15 opening for media and then be open for limited public play-50 people a day. Green fees are expected to be in the mid-30s to low-40s.
In a recent Greensboro Chamber of Commerce golf outing, 270 people participated. The team of Neal Hunt, Kim Hunt, Cindy Farmer and Jay Schurling won the Captain's Choice net division with 39.
Jim Shell, general manager at Pine Brook Country Club, said that the club will be adding a putting green and chipping green. It will also be experimenting with G-2 and Crenshaw grasses. Under golf course superintendent Tony Johnson, Pine Brook will be rebuilding bunkers as part of the refurbishing of the course. Shell noted that there are plans to rebuild the front of the clubhouse in 1998. The club is currently having a membership drive which will continue until the end of 1997. Call Shell for more information: 910-767-2941.
Two events remain in this year's Senior Amateur Golf Tour (SAGT): an outing at Sourwood Forest on Nov. 13, and one at Quail Ridge on Dec. 2. SAGT is open to all senior golfers, 50 and over. Tournament director Dave Forbis schedules 15 yearly tournaments, including four 36-hole events. Yearly membership is $30 and includes a membership card, handicapping service, newsletters and the right to play in the tourneys.
For more information call Forbis at 910-229-9750 in Graham.
The Carolinas Section of the PGA will hold its annual meeting on Dec. 1 at the Pinehurst Hotel. Officers nominated for 1998 include: for president, Chip King, Mid-Pines Inn and G.C. and Pine Needles Lodge and G.C., Southern Pines; for secretary, Zack Veasey, Hillandale G. C., Durham; for tournament chairman, Dave Hardison, Stoney Creek G.C., Greensboro and Chris Tucker, Charlotte National G.C., Indian Trail.
Tee Talk Addition
At the seventh annual Taylor Made Gordin Collegiate Classic, held at Deer Track Golf Resort in Surfside Beach, S.C., North Carolina golf teams scored well. In this tourney for Division III schools, Methodist College of Fayetteville won, with a team total of 596. Greensboro College was a close second with 599, and Guilford College landed in seventh place with 622. Rain shortened this normally 54-hole, two-day event, to the 36 holes that were played on Oct. 18.
Necrology
Benny Goodes, one of North Carolina's leading amateur golfers from the 1930s to the 1970s, died Sept. 5 after suffering a stroke a month earlier. He was 84.
Goodes grew up in Burlington and dominated play at the old Piedmont Country Club in the '30s. He moved to Reidsville in 1940 and was a long-time member of Pennrose Park Country Club, where he was a five-time club champion.
He played in all the major amateur tournaments and won numerous championships over the years, including the North Carolina Senior title four times and the CGA Senior twice. In 1968, he was runner-up in the U.S. Senior Amateur.
The Goodes name continues to be familiar through the play of Mike Goodes, a well-known amateur in the state. He was North Carolina Amateur Champion in 1989.
Bill Hall of Lexington passed away on August 23 at the age of 52. A 27-year member of the PGA, Bill is survived by his wife, Amy; son, William; daughter, Amy; and stepson, Adam Saunders.
Bill was very popular with his fellow professionals and had an outgoing, engaging personality. During his many years as a professional, he served at several clubs in the Triad area including Bryan Park and Lexington. He was an exceptional junior player and competed in numerous PGA Tour events during his career.
End of Article
Staff Reports
Hale Irwin rolled up to the first tee on Friday nursing a sore shoulder and preceded to light up the course will a cool 7-under-par 64. Irwin hit 16 greens in regulation and had 27 putts in the round. Irwin's shoulder problem started when he woke up on Thursday and went to the PGA medical trailer.
Clemmons golfer Walter Hall shot a 1-under 70 with birdies on two and 18 and a bogey at the par-3 13th on Friday. Hall's gallery rivaled Arnie's Army. Hall had to do a little crowd control during his rounds.
The Championship Course at Tanglewood was playing tougher this year, recording a stroke average of 71.026 on Friday vs. a 70.731 in '96. The toughest hole on Friday was the par-4 fourth with a stroke average of 4.526 (the hole is a par-5 for members). In a comparison with last year's statistics it should qualify as the third toughest hole on tour. The par-5 12th was the easiest with a 4.513 average yielding three eagles and 38 birdies. Senior PGA Tour officials will convert the hole back to its original par of 4, changing the course back to a par-70 layout. Tournament Director Rich Habegger laughed, "We've come all the way back to where we started."
Gibby Gilbert recorded the ninth ace of the 1997 Senior PGA Tour campaign when he aced the par-3, third hole on Friday. Gilbert used a 6-iron on the 162-yard hole.
Ray Floyd was forced to withdraw from the tournament on Thursday due to a pinched nerve in his right shoulder.
Bruce Devlin was diagnosed with cancer and joins Arnold Palmer, Jim Colbert and Larry Gilbert on the list of Senior PGA Tour players to be stricken with some form of cancer in 1997. Devlin stated, "They tell me I have about a 95 percent chance of full recovery, and there's no reason I can't go on and live a full and normal live, provided the cancer hasn't spread."
****
Irwin's record round started Saturday just where he left off Friday, picking up birdies at 2,4,6,7,8,11 and 17. He eagled the par-5 12th and hit all 18 greens in regulation. Irwin's course record 62 broke the record previously set by Dave Stockton in 1994. Amateur Ron Morgan of Winston-Salem shot a 63 from the back tees while playing with friends in June, 1978. Irwin's two-day total of 16-under-par 126 breaks the Vantage record for opening and consecutive rounds. Irwin's total of 126 after the first 36 holes ties the Senior PGA Tour record for first two rounds. Jim Colbert needed only 126 strokes in the first two rounds of the 1994 GTE West Classic.
Gil Morgan broke the Senior PGA Tour record with 25 consecutive sub-par rounds by making a 6-foot put on 18 for a 70. He broke Bob Murphy's record of 24 in 1995.
Larry Nelson shot a second-round 65 which would normally pick up a few shots on the field; however, he dropped three strokes to Irwin. When asked whether could he catch Irwin in the final round, he responded with a Nicklaus quote, "It's possible not probable." On playing with Irwin in the final round Nelson responded, "I look forward to playing with him (Irwin). I haven't played with him in a long time. If he is going to beat you by six shots it would be nice to see it."
Walter Hall improved on his Friday performance by shooting a 68 to position him tied for 15th place at 4-under. He birdied nos. 2, 11, 12, 18 and bogeyed 3. Hall hit 13 greens in regulation and had 28 putts, two fewer than Friday. Hall will continue the same routine as Friday night. "I'll go to the WXII party, go home, and tee it up on Sunday." The crowds have been large for Hall, as friends call his name and shake hands with him on virtually every hole. How does Hall feel about having so many fans? With a smile, "I've enjoyed it a lot."
****
Could anybody catch Irwin? Larry Nelson was the first to make the charge, getting to 13-under at the 11th hole just three back from the leader. At the par-5 12th Irwin bunkered his second shot and Nelson was on in two. His first putt rolled three feet from the hole and missed the comeback putt for birdie. The miss spelled doom as he continued to slip with a bogey at 13. Nelson finished the day with a 69, five shots behind Irwin.
Eichelberger tripped coming out of the gate with a bogey on the first hole; however, he made up 10 strokes on Irwin with birdies on nos. 2, 3, 5 ,6, 7, 12, 15, 16, 17 and 18. What changed? Eichelberger stated, "I decided to go with a basic stance and grip and not worry about the other things. I feel like I'm swinging from a more powerful position, and I'm stronger with my hands." The birdie on 18 tied Irwin for the lead and tied Irwin's prior day's course record. Irwin answered Eichelberger's call with birdies on 16 and 18 to win the tournament. Eichelberger took home $132,000 and continues to keep his streak alive by shooting under par in 24 of his last 28 rounds. He followed the Vantage with a victory at the Transamerica Championship the following week.
On No. 18 Irwin hit the shot-of-the-year 3-wood 240 yards on the final hole to a 20-foot opening between bunkers on the final hole needing two putts to win (Saturday: Irwin's shot came up short in the bunker and took two putts for the par.) Irwin lagged a 30-foot putt within two feet and stroked the putt to shoot a 69 and a 18-under score. Irwin became the first person to win $2 million in official tour earnings. Following his round he made a pitch for a membership at Tanglewood and a pitch to be spokesperson on why to play golf in North Carolina.
Walter Hall shot a final round 68, finishing tied for 11th place with at 7-under. Hall left $30,900 richer than when he arrived and left him in 74th place on the '97 money list with winnings of $121,636.
****
Stinking Local Rules. Under the rules of golf, according to Tour official Jim Witherspoon, each site of a tournament may have some sort of local conditions which will come into play. The Vantage Championship had one of the strangest smelling local rules. During the week some skunks had been "romping" around on the front nine. As such, these areas were marked "ground under repair" and a free drop was allowed.
Tournament Director Rich Habegger was very positive in his reaction to one of the premier events on the Senior PGA Tour. Attendance was up about 10 percent for Friday's opening round, 50 percent for the second round and about the same as previous years for the finale on Sunday.
He also appears to be pretty certain that the Vantage will remain at Tanglewood. Of course, there are some questions to be resolved. Probably the foremost question concerns the size of the staff which Tanglewood Park has available to maintain a golf course to PGA Tour level. At full staff, the park has 19 people to maintain two 18-hole golf courses and one par-3 18-hole course. By the standards of golf course maintenance, this is not enough. It should, probably, be twice that number. And now that the tournament is over, Habegger says the staff is down to 12.
How about the reaction of the players? Habegger says they were somewhat apprehensive about the course this year, but when the tournament was over, player reaction was good. He says, "They were happy with the conditions."
After the tournament presentation, Terri Barber, Tournament Coordinator, received the Gatorade bath on the 18th green from Habegger.
End of Article
By Melissa Whitmire
When I sat down to write the final article in this series about Golf Happiness, I asked myself, "If I had one chance to make a lasting impact on people's golfing lives, what would I say?" The answer that appeared seems particularly appropriate as we enter the holiday season because the writing of The Search for Happiness series has ended up being an incredible gift to me. This gift I wish to pass on to you.
The yearlong exploration of my golf history has had a tremendous impact on how I live and teach now. I was startled to discover the extent to which I had been my own worst enemy, which in turn fueled the many years of "golf suffering" to which I have confessed. I have wasted an incredible amount of energy focusing on all the things that could "go wrong" while playing, instead of using the wealth of talent and variety of tools at my disposal to make things "go right."
I am reminded of the significance of our favorite childhood games, a subject I discussed earlier this summer. These were games in which we were totally absorbed, lost in our imagination, going from task to task with intent and enthusiasm, solving whatever little kid-problems that came up without fear or worry. I mention this again because I am convinced that we can play golf in the same manner as we played those childhood games. It has never occurred to us to approach the game in the same spirit because our present expectation of golf is that it should be frustrating and impossible to master. Then we exacerbate that belief by filling our golf conversations with "ifs and whens" as though we are relegating any chance of ever enjoying the game to some hypothetical and distant future. Play like a little kid? Why don't we?
The comparison to playing like a kid demonstrates our innate ability to live totally in the moment, unencumbered by worries and problems, imaginary or real. Yet we have become so results-oriented, so concerned about the outcome that we have lost the ability to enjoy the actual playing of the game. Fretting about proper swing mechanics, what others think about us, or our final score before we even finish does nothing but interfere with our ability to relish every moment on the golf course. To enjoy the company of friends and family, the beauty of the outdoors, and the excitement of the challenge-now that is playing golf for the sheer joy of the game.
I just returned from a workshop in Austin, Texas, where one night we were charged with spending the last few hours of the day creating such an experience for ourselves that we would go to bed thinking we had just lived the best day of our lives. When we told our stories the next day, I was both amazed and amused by the evenings people concocted for themselves. While some people made little effort to comply and did nothing special, others enthusiastically spent the evening treating themselves to a wonderful adventure. In that exercise I clearly saw just how much control I have over my life. It's very simple: "Do I want to have fun? Ok, then have fun. Do I want to be miserable? Go ahead and be miserable." It is definitely my choice.
Since golf and life are perfect reflections of each other, it seems pretty reasonable to say I have the same choice while playing the game. Recently I competed in my first tournament in two years: the National Championship for the Teaching and Club Professional Division of the LPGA. As long as I followed my own advice and focused on one shot at a time, I played well. But when I found myself in the hunt to win I started playing for results (money) and I allowed fear (of losing the money I had not yet won) to take control of my game. Consequently, my decisions and ball striking ability were greatly hampered by the tension it created. Bogeys popped up everywhere and as a result I gave away any chance I had of winning. But I came to my senses, burned up the last nine holes and in that process learned just how much influence I have over what happens.
The formula is simple-not worrying about the outcome = no tension = more fun = better score. Notice that the more-fun part comes before the better-score part, not the other way around. Having fun does not rely upon having a good score. I finished tied for 12th out of 144, so overall I did great. And the real-life lesson about staying in the moment and not worrying about the future will stay with me forever.
So, armed with this remarkable piece of knowledge and given ample opportunity to forge a new path, this is how I (and the little kid in me) will play golf from now on.
I will play golf for the sheer joy of the experience of the game. I will appreciate the ability to test my physical and mental skills to the degree of my choosing. I will celebrate the capacity to feel and express the variety of emotions that a typical round of golf inspires. And I will totally cherish the glorious environment in which a golf course exists. For where else can I "play a game" on some of the most beautifully landscaped pieces of land in some of the most spectacular settings on earth? What a blessing it is to have the ability, the good health, and the opportunity to play a game that encompasses all those marvelous things.
This holiday season I offer you the same gift. Whether it is in golf, work, time spent with family and friends, or everyday inane activities, know that you are absolutely blessed with the ability to decide just how much pleasure you are going to get out of your life.
Wishing you tons of fun-little kid fun! Happy Holidays, everybody.
End of Article
By Bill Sugg
The Nike Tour completes the PGA Tour trifecta in the Triad, with a tournament in Greensboro in 1998. It was announced that the Nike Tour will be stopping at Greensboro's Donald Ross-designed Sedgefield Country Club for the Nike Greensboro Open presented by Buick. It will be a 72-hole event, to be played June 25 to 28, with an inaugural purse of $225,000. Sponsor will be the Greensboro Jaycees, who also sponsor the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic.
In announcing the new event, Tournament Director for 1998 Gary Thrower stated that a goal is to make this tourney "The Masters of the Nike Tour." With its proven record as sponsor of the popular GGCC, the Jaycees have the enthusiasm and organization to make this a success.
Greensboro is touting itself as the golf capital of the South. With the addition of this Nike Tour event, to complement the GGCC PGA event, held in April the AJGA Chrysler Junior event-held next year in June-and the prestigious Cardinal Amateur, held in August, Greensboro certainly has some bragging rights.
The Sedgefield course is a new location for the Nike Tour but well-known to many former PGA Tour professionals now playing on the Senior PGA Tour. It was designed by Donald Ross in 1925.( Originally planned as two courses, only one was built. It opened in 1928.) When the Greater Greensboro Open began in 1938, Sedgefield and Starmount Country Clubs alternated as venues until the tournament moved to Forest Oaks in 1977. The list of champions who won the GGO when played at Sedgefield is an impressive "Who's Who" of golf and includes such notables as Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Mike Souchak, Billy Casper, Doug Sanders, Julius Boros, George Archer, Gary Player, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Tom Weiskopf and Al Geiberger. Snead won his record eighth GGO title at Sedgefield and also became the oldest winner of a PGA Tour event. Both records still stand today.
The Nike Tour is designed as a proving ground for pros who wish to move up to the PGA Tour. Nike Tour graduates and alumni have posted 29 wins on the PGA Tour including consecutive British Open Championships in 1995(John Daly) and 1996(Tom Lehman). Other alumni on the PGA Tour currently include Jeff Maggart, Mike Springer, Jim Furyk, Paul Goydos, John Morse and Stewart Cink.
The Greensboro Jaycees hope that this tournament will help develop community and personal relationships between the next generation of touring pros and this region. Volunteers are needed to house the professional golfers during tournament week. Volunteers are also needed to help with marshalling, scoring, concessions and caddies. For more information, call 910-379-0147.
End of Article