By MARC PRUITT The daunting task of stepping into the halls of Athens Drive High School for the first time didn’t faze incoming freshman Emilia Migliaccio. “Honestly, I’m a little more nervous standing over a 5-foot, downhill, left-to-right putt for par than starting high school,” she said. “I’ve experienced plenty of pressure situations on the…
By DAVID DROSCHAK When the Pinehurst/Southern Pines/Aberdeen Area Convention and Visitors Bureau proclaimed itself the “Home of American Golf” neighboring Lee County wasn’t necessarily in the equation. After all, Sanford was once “The Brick Capital of the World” and very little high-end golf existed. But if there was ever a game changer it was Tobacco…
Campbell University course to celebrate 40th anniversary in 2014 By STUART HALL The two weathered silos standing sentinel by the eighth green of Keith Hills Golf Club’s White Course are as much a conversational design element as they are confounding. The silos, remnants of an old dairy farm that were used to store grain, have…
Former caddy for Payne Stewart shifting golf careers By DAVID DROSCHAK Mike Hicks has read thousands of left-to-right putts on the PGA Tour during his 33 years as a caddy, toted the bag for major champions Payne Stewart and Justin Leonard, traveled the globe, and witnessed professional golf’s psychological pressures up close and personal. A…
By Stuart Hall Golf history is abundantly filled with victories claimed as a result of another golfer’s failures. Few can forget Rory McIlroy’s final round at the Masters two years ago. He began the day with a four-stroke lead, but starting with the 10th hole, made triple bogey-bogey-double bogey en route to an 80 as…
By Christian Worstell In the heart of the village of Pinehurst is a quaint little sandwich shop. On a Tuesday afternoon, locals and out-of-towners flood the atmosphere with talk of golf, specifically next year’s U.S. Open to be held at Pinehurst No. 2. Through a narrow side door and up a set of creaky wooden…
By Kurt Dusterberg Knocked flat by the Great Recession, the retirement and second home golf course real estate market across the Triangle and North Carolina is finally coming back to life. For proof, look no further than St. James Plantation, the 6,000-acre golf and marina community near Southport, which has attracted approximately $50 million in…
The McConnell Golf Junior Scholarship is an innovative program designed to offer instruction, practice and playing opportunities to young golfers that may not have the financial means to practice at first-class facilities. Certain criteria needs to be met, including level of talent, need and commitment to the sport – as well as his proven dedication and…
By JOHN BRASIER No more than a decade ago, replacing healthy bentgrass greens with bermudagrass putting surfaces would have been unpopular and bad for business for elite golf courses along Myrtle Beach’s Grand Strand. “Everybody wanted to play bentgrass greens,” said Max Morgan, vice president of agronomy for National Golf Management’s 22 Myrtle Beach-area courses.…
By DAVID DROSCHAK Putting and short-game instructor David Orr had a nice list of clientele from his humble and somewhat secluded home base in small town Buies Creek that included PGA Tour players Charlie Wi, Roberto Castro, Troy Matteson and North Carolina’s Neal Lancaster. So it was exciting last June when he received a call…