And they’ve got designs on everything from great food at the Carolina Hotel and Pine Needles Lodge to getting in some serious licks on the golf courses.
The annual meeting of the American Society of Golf Course Architects began Friday evening and runs through Wednesday. Some of them are more familiar names who are attending and taking part in discussions are Tom Fazio, Rees Jones, John Fought and Arthur Hills.
Those four have more than just an appreciative interest in the great courses of Pinehurst and Southern Pines.
Fought completed a restoration of Pine Needles last year and received much praise for the work.
Fazio’s name carries almost as much weight in Pinehurst as does that of Donald Ross. Fazio has designed three courses — Nos. 4, 6 and 8, — for Pinehurst Resort and has contributed two more at the ultra-private Forest Creek complex.
Hills broke onto the Pinehurst scene in spectacular fashion a few years ago when he renovated both of the courses at Country Club of North Carolina.
Jones has not only designed two courses in the area — Pinehurst No. 7 and Talamore — but was commissioned to prepare the esteemed No. 2 Course for both U.S. Opens held in 1999 and 2005.
The agenda for the meeting contains a lot of serious stuff, such as strategic planning, panel discussions, perspectives on Pinehurst golf, perspectives on European golf course architecture, life cycle planning, how computer renderings help course design, legal protection for the new marketplace and the President’s Dinner Reception on Tuesday night in the Donald Ross Grill, followed immediately by the President’s Dinner in the St. Andrews Room.
But the highlights of the agenda may very well be the four Professional Development Seminars scheduled for Pine Needles on Saturday, Pinehurst No. 4 on Sunday, Country Club of North Carolina’s Dogwood Course on Monday, and Pinehurst No. 2 on Tuesday.
It should be noted that the above seminars are filled to capacity and each has a shotgun start. The one being held at Pinehurst No. 4 today at 11 a.m. features hickory shaft clubs and gutta percha balls. Speculation is that the architects will not play the course from 7,000 yards.
Golf Clinics: The Challenged Golfer’s Network is conducting clinics Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tuesday’s clinic is for golf professionals and rehabilitation specialists and will be held at the Golf Welcome Center at the intersection of U.S 1 and Youngs Road, just past Hyland Hills Golf Club.
The Wednesday clinic is open to the public and will be held at Knollwood Fairways on Midland Road. Both clinics are free.
The Challenged Golfer’s Network is a newly formed group with the mission to facilitate the participation of disabled persons in the game of golf through learning skills, accessing facilities, dispensing adaptive equipment, educating golf and health professionals and enjoying friendly competition.
Tuesday’s session at the Welcome Center will provide rehab specialists and golf professionals with a working knowledge of the golf swing so that it may be used as a recreational and rehabilitative tool. Participants will then be able to instruct individuals who are disabled.
The “First Swing Seminar” will include segments on history and benefits of the program, grip, stance and swing, wheelchair techniques, adapted devices and safety and Americans With Disabilities Act.
The therapists and professionals will move to the driving range at Knollwood on Wednesday where they will provide instruction to the disabled participants in a “Learn to Golf” clinic.
Bob Wilson, executive director of the National Amputee Golf Association and a double amputee himself, will be teaching the clinic.
“There are 54 million disabled people in the United States and that number is growing as the population gets older,” said Marcia Garcia of The Challenged Golfer’s Network. “It’s estimated that more than two million disabled persons play golf or want to learn the game.”
The Challenged Golfer’s Network is headquartered at the Golf Welcome Center and golfers interested in participating can pick up registration forms there and at Knollwood Fairways.
For information, call 692-6242.
