I’ve covered two U.S. Opens at Pinehurst and the 2001 Women’s Open at Pine Needles as a representative of the newspaper, and I’ve met a lot of great people during the years.
But one thing that has impressed me most during that tenure is the quality of people who work for those resorts.
All of this is a kind of roundabout way to get to a point, but it has come as a shock to me over the last few days as Reg Jones, Beth Kocher and Matt Massei announced that they were leaving Pinehurst Resort.
I have always been amazed by the caliber of the Pinehurst staff. The first one I really got to know was Pat Corso. This was a man who lived and breathed what Pinehurst stood for in the world of golf. I’ve never met a man who believed more deeply in a cause than Pat Corso did in restoring Pinehurst to what he considered its proper place in golf history.
You could spend a half-hour talking to Corso and come away with your batteries recharged, ready to take on the world. The man was an inspiration and embodied the spirit that pushed Pinehurst to the top of the world in golf.
Then along came Don Padgett Sr. This true gentleman of the game added a new grace to the resort. To know Don Padgett was to love the guy. He made you feel comfortable. He made you feel important. He made you feel, well, good.
Don Padgett could talk to you for an hour and you’d hang on every word. You could share a Pepsi while he talked and fill a notebook. If it was golf, Don Padgett knew about it and the story behind it.
If something was happening at Pinehurst, Don Padgett would give you the nuts and bolts of it. But he taught me a quick lesson once that I should have learned many years earlier.
There was a story going around Pinehurst that I wanted to check out, so I went to Mr. Padgett, knowing he’d give me the facts. But I prefaced my query with, “There’s a rumor going around …”
He cut me off. “If you have a question about something ask me,” he said with that great smile, “and I’ll give you an answer. But I don’t respond to rumors.”
The PGA of America named Don Padgett a “Living Legend.” No man was ever more fitted for the label.
I think the great hires at Pinehurst were the direct result of the resort being owned by Robert Dedman Sr. A few days prior to the 1999 U.S. Open I spent an hour interviewing him, and I approached the interview with some trepidation.
I had never met the man who founded ClubCorp and I had no idea what to expect. In fact, I was somewhat surprised that he even found time to grant me an interview.
It turned out that I never had a more gracious reception. Like Don Padgett, he had the knack of making you feel like an old friend. And like Pat Corso, he had a passion for Pinehurst, for what it was and what it could be.
Pat Corso left the resort a few years ago and death has taken Don Padgett and Robert Dedman. And now Executive Vice President Beth Kocher; Matt Massei, vice president of golf and club operations; and Championship Director Reg Jones have departed.
Kocher says she’s retiring at the age of 62 to spend time with her family and pursue other interests. Massei is leaving to join a resort in New Hampshire. Jones is taking a job with the United States Golf Association.
All voiced regret at leaving Pinehurst and gratitude for the opportunity of having worked there.
I’m going to miss them. They were class people who helped make Pinehurst the success that it has become, people who were dedicated to their jobs and who made my job a lot easier.
