Although our golf season is off to a fine start, it was still easy to accept an invitation to play in the 2003 North Carolina Media Cup Challenge.
What golfer would pass up an opportunity to play as many as seven courses in five days in the kind of weather and conditions we expect in July? My team was the Ryder Cup, comprised of seven Yanks and one Brit, against the President’s Cup, six Canadians and a pair of Germans.
This was the third year for the event, with the United Kingdom winning in 2001 and the Canadians in 2002. Our challenge was to finally win one for the U.S. with help from Mike Rees, a golf and sports writer from London.
On May 11, I flew out of Portland on U.S. Airways and found it an easy trip, especially for someone whose air travel is usually across the country. Leaving at 11:15 a.m., I was in Raleigh-Durham airport by 3:30 p.m., showing that golfers wishing to play the same day could have done it with ease by scheduling an early flight.
Golf started Monday at Mid Pines, a Donald Ross layout opened in 1921. While the rolling hills provided only moderate elevation changes, Ross worked his visual intimidation and deception, and the long leaf pines gave us unfounded confidence. Stray balls could be seen with minimal difficulty and often had open paths out into the fairway, but the eight-inch spills proved extremely difficult to hit off.
At the end of a nearly perfect day, we gathered in the brick-and-white clapboard clubhouse/inn to learn the scores. We had a big challenge ahead as the President’s Cup team grabbed 17 of the available points, leaving us with a 16-point deficit. A fine golf course had taken its toll.
From there, we had a driving tour of Pinehurst, followed by an early dinner of hors d’oeuvres in the veranda off the Donald Ross Grill at the Pinehurst Main Clubhouse. Day Two found us at Heritage GC in Wake Forest, a newer course where we actually had the designer in one of our foursomes.
After the round, Bob Moore explained why his fairway bunkers had high faces toward the green.
“If you hit into a bunker ,there should be a penalty. No one is ggoing to hit a 4-iron out of these,” said Moore.
He was right. The only play was to simply get out, sacrifice the shot and take your medicine. Moore has created 18 distinctly different holes, each asking a golfer to think from tee to green, but with few hidden landing areas. Heritage was a fine golf experience, but the deficit didn’t shrink much under the net score format.
Wednesday was a double course day, starting at Duke University in Durham. This wonderful, old-style course with oak-lined fairways was designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and redesigned by his son Rees, who was responsible for similar work at Bethpage Black, site of last year’s U.S. Open. Once again it was modified Stableford scoring but with only 75 percent of handicaps, so it was even tougher to achieve plus numbers.
This stunningly attractive course was also challenging and fun with some severe ups and downs.
After a quick lunch, we were off for Mill Creek in Mebane and a nine-hole half scramble. Paired with our teammates and a local player, we all hit tee shots, then played our own ball in from the best. It’s amazing how well a player can score always choosing the best of four tee shots. Our local, Jay Allred, got us within a 9-iron on a 459-yard par-5.
Mill Creek was recognized among the best new courses by Golf Digest, and although we saw only nine holes, the designation was understandable. At day’s end, the score was President’s Cup 39.5, Ryder 32.5.
Thursday was a day of rest and touring for some with a late afternoon scramble at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, near Winston-Salem. Some of us wanted more golf, and we headed for nearby Salem Glen, where we played 18 for fun. I shot my best score of the week, but as the only prize was for gross score, I was well behind. On the plus side, we got to play a Jack Nicklaus-designed course that we all enjoyed.
Our sunshine had turned to dark clouds as we made our shotgun start for the scramble. Because our partner didn’t show, my teammate, Tony Pioppi from Connecticut and I were a two-man show. Thanks to Tony’s length off the tee and my short game, we were 2-under after two when the thunder rolled in and we saw flashes in the distance. We headed for the clubhouse, where we learned that one of our other groups was also 2-under, but heavy down pours washed out the scores and we went into the final day needing to win by a wide margin.
The match would be decided at Bryan Park, a municipal course in Greensboro, where the course measures 6,651 yards from the white tees(course and slope 71.6/125). Scoring was net, with each of us allowed 75 percent of our handicaps. This Rees Jones layout was a true test, and our best players came through. We wound up winning the title by a single point.
One of my highlights was meeting a 1985 Edward Little High School grad at Bryan Park. Chris LeClerc, who learned his golf at Martindale, is head professional, a post he has held for 13 years. He is the son of Don and Barbara LeClerc.
Looking back on the journey, we found seven fine courses in the shape we expect here in July, with similar temperatures. All were within an hour of each other and close to the airport.
With the exception of Pinehurst, we don’t hear much about the golf in central North Carolina, but it’s worth a look for that pre-season southern vacation. Pinehurst is on my list for a return visit, as is the rest of the region. We’ll have a more detailed look at the golf courses in the fall when golfers are thinking about southern vacations.
Dave Irons is a freelance writer who lives in Westbrook.
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