GolfCarolina.com March Notebook

By Shane Sharp,
Contributing Writer

The Grove Park Inn in Asheville new $40 million subterranean is open for business, and initial reactions are that it may be the most lavish in the Carolinas. The spa weighs in at 40,000 square feet, and fees average $100 an hour.

Just what does this have to do with golf? The GPI is home to an 18-hole Donald Ross original that many golfers consider to be one of the most entertaining courses in the mountains. For more information call (800) 438-0050.

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Springfield Golf Club Opens

Clyde Johnston has designed a new golf course in Fort Mill S.C., just 20 minutes south of Charlotte. Springfield opened its back nine on Feb. 22, and the front nine is slated to open the first week in April. See the accompanying article for a complete preview of the course.

Ocean Harbor to Close for Renovations

Ocean Harbour Golf Club in Brunswick County, N.C. is closing Indefinitely for major renovations. Owner LaDane Williamson wants the original architect, Clyde Johnston, to examine the course and decide the extent of the renovations and how long they will take. All of the greens need to be redone. Williamson says she fully intends to reopen the course.

On Tour

A number of North Carolina professional golfers are making some noise on their respective tours this young season.

Salisbury’s Tripp Isenhour qualified for the PGA Tour this season by finishing eighth on the Buy.com money list in 2000. To start the year, Isenhour posted two round scores of 145 and 141 at the Tucson Open and Sony Opens, respectively, and missed both cuts. He rallied, however, to finish T55 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am, and T58 at the Buick Invitational, pushing his early season earnings to over $16,000.

Greensboro’s Lee Porter, also a Buy.com Tour product, tied for the 21 spot at the 2000 PGA qualifying school and earned another go around on the PGA Tour. Porter finished eighth on the Buy.com money list back in 1996 and earned a spot in the 1997 PGA Tour field. Porter is off to a strong start this season. He finished T48th in the Tucson Open and picked up a check for $7,387. He missed the cut at the Sony Open and at Pebble, but finished T41 at the Buick – good for $12,250.

Flat Rock’s Tommy Tolles has struggled the past few seasons on the PGA Tour, where his name was once mentioned as one of the young, up-and-coming players on tour. Tolles best finishes last season was a tie for 14th at the Tampa Bay Classic and tie for 25th at the MCI Classic in Hilton Head. He qualified for the PGA Tour this season by grabbing a fourth place finish at the 2000 Q-school. Tolles missed the cuts at the Sony Open and Pebble and but finished T41st at the Tucson Open and T75 at the Buick.

Neal Lancaster, out of Smithfield, hopes to recapture some of the magic that led him to a victory in the rain-shortened 1994 Byron Nelson Classic. Lancaster qualified for the PGA Tour in 2001 by finishing 105th on the money list last season – the ninth time in his 10-year career that he has finished in the top 125. Lancaster finished T41st with Tolles at the Tucson Open, and also picked up $11,400 in earnings. He has since missed the cuts at the Sony and Phoenix Opens, Pebble Beach, and the Buick Invitational.

Charlotte’s Terry Mauny earned full playing privileges for 2001 on the Senior Tour after shooting four straight par or better rounds in the Senior Q-school at Eagle Pines GC at Walt Disney World last season. Mauny qualified for the PGA Tour in 1979, but had to leave after three years due to a shoulder injury.

Mauny’s first event of the new season was the Royal Caribbean Classic in Key Biscayne, where he finished an impressive T13 and picked up a check for $26,600. He finished T47 in the ACE Group Classic the following week, padding his earnings with a $4620 check. Mauny plans to compete in 28 of the tour’s 38 events this season. His best finish in 2000 was a T36 at the Lightpath Long Island Classic.

Winston-Salem’s Walter Hall had a solid 2000 season on the Senior Tour, and is off to a fast start in 2001. Hall finished T13 with Mauny in Key Biscayne, and followed that up with a T17 finish at the ACE Group Classic. Hall finished in the top 10 in eight tournaments last season, and was close to victory three times near the middle of the year. He finished in the Top 31 on the money list, but finished with a disappointing T27th at the Tour Championship at the TPC of Myrtle Beach.

Marcy Newton of Thomasville has conditional status on the LPGA tour this season, and will attempt to qualify for a number of events through sponsors’ exemptions. The reigning 2000 U.S. Amateur Champion is working with player representative Vinny Giles of Pros Inc. to secure entry to a number of tournaments. Her father, Ernie Newton, retired from teaching school in Thomasville to caddie for her through the season.

Former Duke Blue Devil Beth Bauer failed to qualify for the LPGA tour this season. The 1998 and 1999 women’s ACC player of the year gained full exemption on the Futures tour by making it to the final stage of the final day at qualifying school. Bauer’s player representative, Tim McNulty, says that Bauer also recently signed endorsement deals with Cleveland Golf and Tommy Hillfiger Golf. Bauer may seek sponsors exemptions for select LPGA tour events.