Winter in Carolina busy with news from Dana Rader and Robert Trent Jones Jr.

By Shane Sharp,
Contributor

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Rumors, rantings and other things admissible as news from around the Carolinas golf scene.

Robert Trent Jones Jr. finally has made his way to the Carolinas, and preliminary indications are that he might just stay. Jones, Jr. - whose body of work is largely situated west of the Mississippi and overseas - recently added his design stamp to the Rock Barn Golf and Country Club about an hour's drive northwest of Charlotte.

The Jones Jr. Course is the second 18-hole track at Rock Barn. The existing 18-holer was designed by Carolina mainstay Tom Jackson. The entire facility is the brainchild (and labor of love) of local minor-league baseball mogul Don Beaver. Beaver owns the Triple-A Charlotte Knights as well as the Winston-Salem Warthogs and the Hickory Crawdads.

The new Rock Barn course is stocked with typical Jones Jr. signature elements: the uphill par-4s, the menacing green complexes, occasional blind tee shots and plenty of mounding. The course plays to 7,126 yards from the back tees and a par of 72. Word from the Jones Jr. camp is that the influential modern course designer was so enthralled with the possibilities around the Charlotte area and central Piedmont that he will open a new local office staffed by his Ty Butler, his lead associate.

Rock Barn recently cut the ribbon on a lavish new clubhouse, and a 20,000-square foot spa and lodge for overnight guests are on the drawing board. Beaver also announced plans to remodel the Jackson course and bring it closer to the level of the new Jones Jr. layout. An exact date for the project was not specified. Both courses are private, however the Jones Jr. curse is open for limited outside play.

Rader on the radar with new instructional book

Dana Rader, a Golf Magazine Top 100 teacher and TravelGolf.com's southern section instructional editor, held a bash at the Ballantyne Resort to celebrate the release of her first book - Rock Solid Golf, a Foundation for a Lifetime. The party also commemorated the fifth anniversary of her golf school at Ballantyne, one of the Carolinas most revered and advanced teaching facilities.

Rader's book draws upon her experience as a true Carolina golfer. She grew up in Morganton, N.C., playing the traditional courses of the western Piedmont and learning the game from fundamentals-based instructors. The central tenant of her instructional philosophy is "stick to your program," no matter what your goals for your game may be.

"There are some principles and fundamentals that all golfers should adhere to," Rader says. "But you try to make it as basic as you can so that people can follow it, and you have to adapt to the person's goals."

In A Rock Solid Foundation, Rader begins by shedding some light on the common misconceptions surrounding the golf swing and then sets forth a foundation for building a golf game for a lifetime. She uses a series of case studies to make her points and refreshingly, does not use the book as a lengthy advertisement for her golf school.

"I talk about my first golf lesson, and try to relay some of my experiences to the reader, but the theme is about sticking with a program and remaining in the game of golf," she says. "This book is not about why you should take lessons from Dana Rader."

For more information on purchasing a copy of Rader's new book, call (704) 542-7635, or order from www.amazon.com.

Ocean Ridge Plantation names fourth course, keeps it in the 'big cat' family

It's come to this on the Grand Strand golf scene. The golf media has eagerly awaited the naming of the fourth and final golf course at Ocean Ridge Plantation in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C for nearly a year now. Such is life when there's exactly one course scheduled to open in the next two years in a region that was once on a five-new-course-a-year diet. So without further ado, Leopard's Chase is set to spring onto the north Stand sometime in 2004.

"Our intentions are to make it one of the best new courses in the country when it opens," says Ocean Ridge director of golf Tom Plankers.

Leopard's Chase will join the formidable lineup of Lion's Paw, Panther's Run and Tiger's Eye. Similar to Tiger's Eye, Leopard's Chase will fuse natural wetlands with elevations changes seldom seen at the beach. Greens will be turfed with bentgrass and fairways will be TifSport Bermuda.

Chip Shots

Scanning the dailies for deals revealed two good ones: $23 for a round of golf at Winyah Bay in Georgetown, S.C., with $1 hot dogs and draft beers. The coupon runs in the Myrtle Beach Sun News and is good Sunday through Wednesday. Stonebridge Golf Club outside of Charlotte is offering a package that includes four rounds of golf and a crested shirt for $99.

December 1, 2002

Shane Sharp is vice president of Buffalo Communications, a golf and lifestyle media agency. He was a writer, senior writer and managing editor of TravelGolf.com from 1997 to 2003.