By David Droschak Few golfers – outside of Tiger Woods – have had a more successful junior career than Jason Widener. The former Greensboro native won over 50 junior tournaments, including the U.S. Junior Amateur, was the No. 1 ranked junior player in the country for two years in the late 1980s and became one…
By David Droschak Going low has been the rule at the Wyndham Championship since moving to Sedgefield Country Club rather than the exception, with winning scores regularly at 20-under-par or better. The last five Greensboro winners have broken that barrier with Brandt Snedeker firing an opening round 59 in 2018 and last year’s champion Jim…
By David Droschak The list of champions from prestigious tournaments staged at the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst dating to the early 1970s is beyond impressive. That list includes Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw, Hal Sutton and current club member and PGA Tour star Webb Simpson. Is the next winner at the 73rd U.S.…
By David Droschak Hall of fame golf course architect Tom Fazio loves to rattle off his favorite features of mountain golf in North Carolina — hills, terrain, elevation, framing, definition, trees, natural streams, waterfalls. “All of these things come with the territory and then it’s just a matter of how you fit it in, how…
By David Droschak Jackson Van Paris has been one of the nation’s top junior golfers the last few years, accustomed to handling pressure situations. So, heading to the 18th hole at Pinehurst No. 2, needing a par on one of the hardest holes on the course to secure the North Carolina 4-A high school men’s…
By David Droschak Reaching the top in golf often requires tremendous sacrifices, including long hours on the practice range, a never-ending focus on fundamentals, mental toughness and course management, just to name a few. Macy Pate added one more item to the mix this past year. The Reagan High School freshman and her family…
By David Droschak Considering his stellar work across North Carolina, it’s only fitting that favorite son Tom Fazio would be behind the design work of the first golf course to open in the state in five years. The “new” High Hampton was unveiled in late May to its members, and will start taking resort play…
By David Droschak So how has John McConnell systemically assembled a successful private golf course portfolio across four Southeastern states while many in the industry scoffed at his notion of a “regional golf network?” Already with more than a dozen top-notch layouts designed by the likes of Dye, Fazio, Palmer, Norman and Ross, McConnell has…
By Kurt Dusterberg Emilia Migliaccio can pinpoint exactly when she began second-guessing her dream. The Wake Forest senior, one of the top-ranked amateurs in the world, was on top of her game on the final holes of the North & South Women’s Amateur at Pinehurst last summer. “I birdied the last three holes to finish…
By David Droschak Richard Lawson has led a life that is beyond interesting and intriguing. He spent the “working portion” of his career as a government contractor designing and executing United States missile defense systems. The last two decades, Lawson has been the “behind the scenes” engine to help fuel Pinehurst-area volunteers for such high-profile…