Abbott is retired from her career with the PGA Foundation as a golf teacher who teaches other golf teachers how to teach golf. In the parking lot, she reminisced about her first visits to Pine Needles.
“My group was one of the first groups to conduct golf clinics at Pine Needles after the resort started opening in the summer months,” she said. Up until the 1970s, Pine Needles shut down in the summer.
Abbott’s friend, Helen Barkley, is a PGA instructor from Pittsburgh. Barkley and Abbott and their two friends from Pittsburgh, Ruth and Peg Burke, were looking forward to the start of the tournament. Armed with seats, binoculars, hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, umbrellas, and rain suits, barring a surprise snowstorm or hurricane, they were ready for anything.
Working to Keep Up
Woody Higgins of Southern Pines was working hard on the mini-leader board at the main entrance to the Championship tourney.
He maintained a steady pace of posting the leaders and keeping up with their scores, all the while hoping his partner would show up. Maintaining a hand-held computer to monitor the scores, searching for the right letters and numbers, and posting them on the board is a lot for one person to keep organized.
“I have to look at the computer every few minutes to keep up with the scoring,” he said. “It will start getting hectic later in the day. Things change fast.” If help doesn’t arrive, it will be a long day for Higgins.
Oops!
One spectator spotted a Cadillac idling in the daily parking lot early on Thursday morning. Abandoned, the car was locked with the keys in the ignition.
“I’d hate to be the owner of that car at the end of the day,” the spectator remarked before scurrying off to catch the tournament action. It’s double trouble — or triple. Not only will the car probably be out of gas, but its battery may be dead. And the car keys are locked up inside.
WomanChild
Bonnie McGowan passed out coupons for free U.S. Women’s Open stuffed toys to many of the players’ children Tuesday. Among all the youngsters was 13-year-old Wunderkind Morgan Pressel, who is playing in the Championship.
McGowan figured that since she was the same age as the other kids, she would want one. Indeed she did. Young Morgan was so enamored with her toy that she took it to the player’s dinner Tuesday night.
A Happening Place
Thursday was the beginning of a busy four-day stretch in the daily parking lot.
Ronnie Ashburner of Charlotte was in great form, directing a steady stream of traffic. Parking Unlimited is handling the traffic control in the lot, and Ashburner was recruited for the week.
Uniquely qualified for this job, Ashburner is an employee of the N.C. Department of Transportation. He estimated that the daily lot would hold up to 10,000 cars.
Peggy Fired?
When they played the Women’s Open at Pine Needles in 1996, Peggy Kirk Bell was put in charge of the weather. Of course, not of drop of rain fell during that magical week.
After a sterling performance five years ago, Bell was put in charge of the weather again. She didn’t fare as well with heavy rains Monday and Tuesday.
“After two days of thunderstorms, I fired Ms. Bell for arranging that kind of weather,” quipped Championship Director Reg Jones. “We haven’t seen a rain cloud since.”
Of course, that was only Wednesday.
Just in Case
The Southern Pines Fire Department has sent several of its own to the Women's Open as a precautionary measure.
John McCaskill and Phillip Richardson were on the job from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. Thursday providing fire safety. Though spending the day at the golf tournament is not a routine day for these firemen, "there's not really a typical day at the fire station," said McCaskill.
Neither McCaskill nor Richardson would consider themselves fans of golf, but they both found themselves rooting for Donna Andrews.
"You gotta pull for the home-girl," McCaskill said.
Great Fan, But . . .
Debra Barber of Aberdeen is spending the week watching the U.S. Women's Open, which is exactly what she loves to do.
This certainly is not Barber's first golf tournament. She has been a longtime fan of the sport. Barber was a spectator at the Women's Open in 1996 as well as the Men's Open in 1999.
Despite her love for golf, Barber does not claim to be a good golfer.
"I'm a good fan, but not a good golfer," she said.
— Compiled by Teri Saylor, Jessica Nesbitt and David Woronoff
