It is right in her back yard.
Peeples and her husband, Jim, live on the 15th fairway of the Pine Needles golf course. They were grilling hamburgers and partying with a group of friends Saturday afternoon.
They had a television tuned to ESPN to watch live coverage of championship unfolding right outside their house.
“We run inside to see if we can see our house on television,” Patty Peeples said. “It’s neat. You can’t beat it. We’re having a great time.”
Several party guests sat in chairs behind ropes that run along the boundaries of the yards that adjoin the golf course. Every time a threesome approached with a golfer some of them wanted to see, they crawled through the rope and out to the course to get a closer view.
The Peepleses kept a television on inside the house to help keep up with which golfers would soon pass by.
Don and April Barcus were munching on hamburgers as they watched the television coverage. As they watched, a threesome with defending Open champion Karrie Webb was finishing up on the 14th green. They headed outside to the golf course in time to see the golfers hit their second shot from the 15th fairway.
“You can’t beat this,” April Barcus said. “This is a great location.”
The Barcuses and Jim Peeples followed Webb’s group through to the finish.
Larry and Frances Wilson, who were also guests at the Peepleses’ party, live on the fairway of the 16th hole, which is right across N.C. 22. They don’t mind being right in the center of the action.
“I’ll be sitting in my den and I hear this loud cheer go up outside,” Larry Wilson said. “I’ll look outside to see what it is. It’s great.”
Added Frances Wilson, “It’s like you are right in the middle of it.”
The Peepleses and Wilsons remember well the last time the Women’s Open was played at Pine Needles in 1996. They all agree this one seems bigger and better.
“The crowds are bigger,” Patty Peeples said. “There just seems to be a lot more going on this time.”
That was the consensus among other spectators who talked with The Pilot Saturday.
“It seems like they’ve bumped everything up a notch or two this time,” said Caleb Miles, executive director of the county’s Convention and Visitors Bureau. “There are so many more added touches this year, the ‘Catch the Spirit’ thing and everything that is being done for the kids, and the Women’s Health Festival. It’s just great for women’s golf and this area. The Bells and everyone at Pine Needles have done a great job.”
The CVB paid $25,000 for one of the Greenside Chalets along the 18th green to entertain golf and travel writers, golf wholesalers and other clients.
“I couldn’t imagine having a better view than this,” Miles said.
Former Moore County resident Charles Hayes, who is president of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership, and his wife, Jan, were taking in the golf in another Greenside Chalet.
“The golf course is in great condition and the golf is fantastic,” Hayes said. “The crowds are bigger. It is impressive.”
Hayes is the former president of the Moore County Economic Development Corp. He lived in Moore County in 1996.
The RTRP is a regional partnership that markets a 13-county region, including Moore County, for economic development. The Women’s Open is another opportunity, Hayes said, to showcase Moore County and this region of the state.
“There seems to be more widespread interest from a spectator and corporate standpoint this time,” Hayes said. “That is a tribute to the Bells and Pine Needles. This is great for Moore County and North Carolina.”
