By DAVID DROSCHAK Harold Varner III tends to see white on the golf course – as in the ball heading into the hole. And while he includes Tiger Woods in his dream foursome with Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, that selection is based on talent, not race. The former East Carolina star acknowledges he can’t…
By DAVID DROSCHAK Golf course architect David Johnson weaved his way around briar patches and battled through thick woods and wetlands, suddenly emerging into an open field on a tract of land in Rocky Mount the Ford family had asked him to check out for a possible golf course layout. On first impression —…
By DAVID DROSCHAK In baseball vernacular John McConnell would be a combination of star relievers Mariano Rivera, Goose Gossage and Dennis Eckersley. The Raleigh golf executive has been fast and aggressive — seemingly coming out of the left field bullpen at times – to compile an impressive portfolio of private golf course “saves” across North…
Few, if any, golf clubs across North Carolina can boast of a 500 percent increase in membership over the last 18 months. But that’s exactly what Belmont Lake Golf Club in Rocky Mount has accomplished since being purchased by the Halle Building Group in April 2013. While 158 may not seem like a large number,…
By Stuart Hall In mid-May, rain started falling midway through the first round of the NCAA East Regional Championship at Lonnie Poole Golf Course on North Carolina State’s Centennial Campus. Enough rain fell that play was eventually suspended. All total, there was 4.8 inches of precipitation, which was more than enough to wash out the…
By STEVE WILLIAMS Siranon Shoomee picked a great time for her best round ever. The junior from Lee County High School fired a 5-under-par 67 at Longleaf Golf and Country Club to pull away from Gina Kim, the state’s No. 1 ranked player, to capture her second straight 3A state golf championship. Shoomee, known…
By EDDIE SOUTHARDS Jennifer Chang is not an imposing figure – until you put a golf club in her hand. That is when the freshman at Athens Drive High School, who just turned 15, wears braces and stands only 5-foot-4, can be intimidating. Chang shot 74-70 to win the girls’ state 4A state golf…
By STEVE WILLIAMS Clear some space in the crowded Cardinal Gibbons trophy case for girls golf. The Crusaders, who have collected close to 50 state titles since joining the North Carolina High School Association in 2005, finally got one in girls golf by dominating a 10-team 3A field on two beautiful late October days at…
By EDDIE SOUTHARDS After two near misses, Green Hope finally rose to the top to win its first girls’ state 4A golf championship. The Falcons put together two solid rounds at Pinehurst No. 1 to claim the team title after finishing third and second the previous two years. They did it behind senior Meghan…
By DAVID DROSCHAK Tom Pashley has seemingly done it all at Pinehurst, from cooking omelets to raking bunkers to working the overnight shift as part of the audit team during his stint in the mid 1990s as part of the resort’s first-ever Manager in Development Program. So, even though some of the names have changed…