Anderson Creek Golf Club is one of several highly regarded golf courses in the Fayetteville area.

(FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.) — A trio of Fayetteville’s finest golf designs — Anderson Creek, Gates Four Country Club and King’s Grant Golf Club — have been included in the North Carolina Golf Panel’s annual rankings published in the April issue of Business North Carolina Magazine.

The Davis Love III-designed Anderson Creek, named North Carolina’s Best New Course in 2001, remained a fixture in the Tar Heel State’s Top 100 checking in at No. 91 and was also deemed the Sandhills’ fifth-best hidden gem.

Gates Four, a recently renovated Willard Byrd favorite near the heart of Fayetteville, stood proudly at No. 11 among all courses in the Eastern Region, while King’s Grant was touted as the No. 4 hidden gem in the area.

The list of the Top 100 courses is determined by a scoring system that asks 150 panelists to consider the course’s conditioning, routing, design, strategy, memorability, fairness, variety and aesthetics.

Since the panel was formed in 1995, its members can only vote for courses that they have played — a daunting task for a state sporting more than 550 golf courses.

“This recognition further affirms Fayetteville as a popular golf destination,” said John Meroski, CEO of the Fayetteville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Meroski suggested that Fayetteville is a perfect stopping-off point for people traveling to Myrtle Beach or Hilton Head. They can both stay in Fayetteville and save themselves a considerable amount of gas money — and they can enjoy the well-conditioned and challenging Fayetteville golf courses as an ideal warm-up before their final destination.

“Fayetteville is a closer trip, our courses aren’t as crowded and they are a lot more affordable,” said Meroski. “If golfers want to break up that long trip in Fayetteville there are great hotels and plenty of golf to do so, plus history, heroes and a hometown feeling.”

Pettersson's tartan jacket has a new home in the TPC Wakefield pro shop.

RALEIGH, N.C. (April 17, 2012) — Members and staff of TPC at Wakefield Plantation were duly impressed Monday when Carl Pettersson dropped off his new tartan jacket to be displayed in his home club’s golf shop.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Pettersson coasted to a five-shot win over former Masters champion Zach Johnson and a field of distant followers at the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island’s famed Harbour Town Golf Links.

Pettersson not only earned the tournament champion’s customary tartan jacket and a paycheck totaling $1,026,000. With his fifth career title the former N.C. State All-American — who has been a TPC at Wakefield Plantation member and resident since 2006 — also tied Jesper Parnevik as the all-time leading tour winner for Swedish players.

For McConnell Golf members, Monday’s brush with greatness was their second in as many weeks. Just eight days earlier, in an Easter Sunday win for the ages at Augusta National, Old North State Club member Bubba Watson claimed his first green jacket by executing one of the most clutch shots in PGA Tour history and holding off Louis Oosthuizen on the second hole of a Masters playoff.

For Watson, his Masters victory was considerably more challenging than the one he earned last summer at the Old North State Club championship, during which he shot 66-63 and finished with a final-nine 28.

McConnell Golf reported that signage for the new Masters champion’s personal space in the Old North State Club parking lot is now being prepared.

“I think everyone involved with McConnell Golf, members and staff alike, are very proud and happy for both Bubba and Carl,” said John McConnell, president and CEO of McConnell Golf, which owns both Old North State Club and TPC Wakefield.

This week, the Men’s ACC Golf Tournament returns to the Old North State Club for the 16th time overall and 11th consecutive year the event has been contested there.

Along with Pettersson, other former ACC competitors who have battled at Old North State and are now starring on golf’s highest level include 2011 FedExCup champion Bill Haas and runner-up Webb Simpson, both Wake Forest products, along with Matt Kuchar (Georgia Tech), former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover (Clemson), former British Open champion Stewart Cink (Georgia Tech), and 2012 PGA Tour winners Kyle Stanley (Clemson), Johnson Wagner (Virginia Tech) and Mark Wilson (North Carolina).

The ACC Women’s Championship was contested at Old North State in 1994 and began its lengthy partnership with the men’s event the following season.

Also in the McConnell Golf stable are six other premier, private clubs in the Carolinas including Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, a Donald Ross classic and annual host site of the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship.

Last week, for the fourth consecutive year Sedgefield also played host to the ACC Women’s Championship; perennial powerhouse Duke earning its first ACC title since 2008 by 10 strokes over North Carolina.

Duke junior sensation Lindy Duncan garnered medalist honors at Sedgefield and is currently the top-ranked women’s golfer in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.

“We enjoy being the ACC’s partner for their golf championships and we appreciate the fact that their teams look forward to competing on such high-quality courses that our members enjoy on a routine basis,” said McConnell. “We are proud of the fact that our championship courses are fun for everyday players, as well as the world’s best professionals.”

Fazio's Treyburn design is one of the Tar Heel State's most scenic.

DURHAM, N.C. (March 31, 2012) — Following a nearly yearlong renovation and just in time for the spring golf season, Treyburn Country Club unveiled its freshly refurbished Tom Fazio-designed golf course and expanded practice facility Saturday during a grand re-opening Club Gala.

The physical work on the Treyburn golf course began in June 2011 and the club will waste no time showing off its impeccably renovated layout. Treyburn plays host to the prestigious 6th Annual North Carolina High School Invitational on Monday, as well as the 52nd North Carolina Amateur Championship on June 14-17.

The extensive renovation done on the golf course allowed McConnell Golf to complete several different projects that not only enhance the layout itself, but also restore Treyburn’s reputation as one of the best golf courses in North Carolina.

The first and most vital aspect of the golf course renovation project at Treyburn was to replace the decades-old, Penncross bent grass greens with a newer, more heat tolerant 96-2 bent grass — very similar to Crenshaw bent grass — which will provide a much better putting surface during the summer months.

By reseeding the greens, renowned architect and renovation expert Kris Spence and his team were able to rebuild each green to their original specs, while also providing better drainage to each complex. On several greens, they were able to soften severe slopes, providing more pin-able locations.

Tree removal around several greens was necessary to provide more sunlight in the morning hours and allow better airflow on the surfaces, resulting in healthier greens going forward and providing better views on holes such as Nos. 7, 13 and 14.

Another key element in the project was the addition of better irrigation around each putting surface. The new irrigation heads not only allow the greens to be properly watered throughout the year but allow the Treyburn maintenance team, led by superintendant Mark Snell, to better regulate the amount of water in the approach areas. The new state-of-the-art pump station installed during the project will also assist in these controls.

Also, every bunker on the Treyburn golf course has been upgraded with new drainage and the best white sand available, and several new bunkers were added for strategic purposes. In some areas, the bunkers were re-designed or moved to increase their relevance and provide better visual shaping of the holes that is synonymous with Tom Fazio golf courses.

With these numerous improvements, McConnell Golf members and their guests said they look forward to enjoying their golfing experience for years to come. Saturday’s events kicked off with a 5K Fun Run and pancake breakfast followed by a club golf tournament. Afterwards, the club served hors d’oeuvres and handed out awards, followed by a dinner dance with a seafood theme and musical entertainment.

In addition to the new putting surfaces, bunkers, and irrigation and drainage upgrades, Treyburn’s two-decade-old practice facility also received a face-lift. The top two tiers of the driving range hitting areas have been leveled and expanded by 40 percent, and new flagpoles have been installed to provide a cleaner look for the six target greens. The putting green has been completely redesigned with an additional 1,000 square feet of putting surface, providing a better simulation of putts members may encounter on the course. The practice bunker on the left side of the range has also been redesigned to allow for both green side bunker shots and long iron shots to the middle of the practice range.

Finally, expanded chipping and pitching areas have been designed to assist all players with their short game. Necessary modifications that will allow McConnell Golf members and guests a better opportunity to elevate their golf game

“All the renovation work we do allows continuity of excellence between generations of membership,” said McConnell Golf Director of Golf Operations Brian Kittler. “Our members are accustomed to outstanding golf clubs and they want the next generation to inherit an equally outstanding facility. John McConnell takes really good properties, puts in a lot of money and makes them great. He gets them to a whole new level.”

Golf Digest voted Treyburn “Best New Course” when it opened in the late 1980s. Raleigh’s John McConnell and his company, McConnell Golf, purchased Treyburn in December 2006 and today Treyburn is one of eight courses owned by McConnell Golf. Others in the Triangle include Raleigh Country Club and TPC at Wakefield Plantation in Raleigh.

Treyburn sports an impressive résumé that includes hosting stage one events for the PGA TOUR’s Qualifying School (2006-08), the Carolinas Amateur (1993), North Carolina State Open (1997), Carolinas PGA Section Championship (2001), Tarheel Tour Treyburn Open (2005-06), two AJGA events (2006-07) and a USGA Junior Girls qualifier (2007).

The world's best PGA Tour players will enjoy major changes around Sedgefield CC in 2012.

RALEIGH, N.C. (March 2012) — When McConnell Golf purchased Greensboro’s venerable-yet-aging Sedgefield Country Club in early 2011, its new owner recognized significant improvements to the longtime host site of the PGA TOUR’s Wyndham Championship would be necessary in order to help restore the club to its former glory. Numerous, well-publicized upgrades were made prior to the 2011 Wyndham Championship, while others are ongoing.

Now, with an eye on having Sedgefield’s Donald Ross-designed golf course ranked among the state’s Top 10 within the next five years — and preventing the club’s maintenance staff from worrying about hot weather and its effects on bent grass greens every summer — McConnell Golf CEO John McConnell has announced that Sedgefield will convert its green complexes to a more heat-resistant strain of Bermuda grass.

McConnell said the decision followed considerable research and after his company sought the advice of his maintenance supervisors and Sedgefield’s advisory board. Sedgefield closed its golf course on May 14, and McConnell promised the facilities would be in pristine condition prior to the August 16-19 Wyndham Championship.

“It is my conclusion that Bermuda greens will become the norm for the golf putting greens in the Carolinas,” said McConnell in a letter to the Sedgefield membership, in which he also said the total project is estimated to be a $400,000 investment in club improvements.

Bobby Long, chairman of the Piedmont Triad Charitable Foundation Board of Directors, issued a statement on behalf of the Wyndham Championship: “This news is fantastic for the members of Sedgefield Country Club,” said Long. “They already had a beauty of a golf course, but now John McConnell is shining it up so it can truly reveal itself. People tend to think the greens should be soft so a player can scream a low 3-iron into a green and have it stick, but that is not what Donald Ross had in mind when he designed this golf course.

“Bermuda greens will transform Sedgefield into a true test of golf, and we are ecstatic that John has made this decision,” said Long. “Sedgefield is one of the finest courses in North Carolina, and we are honored to play the Wyndham Championship on such a wonderful course.”

Two-time Wyndham Championship winner and 2012 Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III said he was equally pleased about the decision: “Changing the Sedgefield greens to Bermuda grass is great news for the members at Sedgefield, but it’s also great for the Wyndham,” said Love. “I thank Mr. McConnell for having the vision and leadership to make this change. The new greens will allow the course to be played the way Donald Ross intended most of the year. I look forward to playing Sedgefield’s new greens in August.”

Wyndham 2011 champion Webb Simpson offered similar thoughts: “With Bermuda greens, Sedgefield becomes one of the great golf courses on the PGA TOUR,” said Simpson. “Even in the heat of August, the greens will be hard and fast, and that means the course will play much tougher. I think it’s safe to say that the days of 20-under par are over. I’ve always loved Sedgefield, but I’m really looking forward to playing the Wyndham this August on the new greens.”

For McConnell, the big question was not “if” but “when.” In his letter to the Sedgefield membership explaining the timing of the greens renovation, McConnell mentioned the long list of items at Sedgefield that were in need of repair and maintenance when McConnell Golf took over ownership, and that the company was steadily reducing that list as it strives to complete these property improvements.

“The [new Sedgefield] activities building currently under construction will be a gem when completed,” McConnell said. “Each time I visit I am impressed with all the design detail and functionality that this building will offer our members. I can hardly wait to sit on that patio and watch the birdies being made on No. 9. The Boardroom will be updated this spring with new furnishings and audio visual equipment so I hope these changes will be beneficial to future business meetings held at the club.”

McConnell said that Sedgefield’s golf course is a prime candidate for a changeover to Bermuda because there is a minimum of tree cutting that needs to take place, and that green complexes would not need to be rebuilt. Therefore, the bent grass could be quickly burned out and Bermuda sprigs planted that will grow quickly in the hot summer months.

“[Sedgefield] enjoyed great greens last summer due to a mild July and August but I vividly remember how the previous summer had left these same putting surfaces very stressed,” said McConnell in his letter. “Many other North Carolina golf courses have converted to Bermuda greens or are in the process of converting so we need to get on board with the future of golf in our region.”

McConnell said that in addition to changing the grasses on the greens, the company would be doing other work to the course as well. Golf course architect Kris Spence will oversee the project, which will include enlarging the second green in the back for a better pin position and modifying the front of the 17th green. Spence will also oversee adding bunkers to holes 5 and 15 to better reward great shots and penalize bad ones on the tournament’s two par-5s.

“I would like to stress that we are making this decision for the benefit of Sedgefield’s long term facility improvement plan without any influence from the Wyndham Championship and the Piedmont Triad Charitable Foundation,” said McConnell. “Certainly the tournament and the PGA Tour players will prefer to play Bermuda greens in August’s heat and it will be interesting to see what the winning scores will be in the future with the new greens. Sedgefield’s golf course deserves better than having these skilled players shoot 21-under on our beautiful old layout.

“Bottom line is when you consider the long term maintenance savings that these Bermuda greens provide, this is a decision that is easy to make. And having other McConnell Golf courses in close proximity to play, we hope the inconvenience for our golfing members this summer will be minimal.”

Jim Nantz began a busy March by calling the Big Ten Tourney in Indy.

GREENSBORO, N.C. — It is no coincidence that  “the voice of sports” belongs to one of the most thoughtful and introspective interview subjects imaginable; and that same person also happens to be among the most affable and cordial people you’ll ever meet.

So I suppose it should come as no surprise that Jim Nantz returned a phone call bright and early Monday morning from his Connecticut home while preparing to  “tip off,” as the case may be, what Nantz describes as his most grueling week of the year.

Therein lies the thing about Nantz. He’s silky smooth, yet genuine and down-to-earth. He has become a hugely popular celebrity, yet still looks a person in the eye and listens attentively when not speaking.

The previous weekend served as what Nantz calls a  “nice little appetizer” prior to the most maniacal madness of his March itinerary. He broadcast a total of three Big Ten conference tournament games from Indianapolis on Saturday and Sunday, then hosted the CBS Selection Sunday show and afterward stayed up until well past 2 in the morning preparing his homework for the upcoming week.

“People don’t understand when you call these games you have what you call a ‘spotting board’  — a glorified cheat sheet in front of you — so that you really have at your fingertips all the important anecdotal information,” said Nantz. “ So we had a very productive night [Sunday] night.”

Monday morning, Nantz was at home returning phone calls at the same time he was packing for the two-hour drive to Dayton, Ohio, where he would cover four hours of practice later that day, then broadcast the two NCAA play-in games from Dayton on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, Nantz headed to Greensboro, N.C., where he attended eight hours of Thursday practices at the Greensboro Coliseum while at the same time preparing boards and doing research, talking to players, coaches, radio play-by-play announcers and student-managers. He will be back on the air Friday from 1 p.m., until well past 12 midnight calling four games.

On Saturday he does it all again, attending four more practice sessions. On Sunday, he will call two more games.

For those of you scoring at home, that’s 11 games Nantz will have broadcast in one week.

“People think, ‘Well, that’s cool. You get to go to 11 basketball games,’ “ Nantz said. “ They have no idea how much time you spend. And by the way, I’m not looking for any violin music here or any sympathy cards, but there is a lot of preparation behind it that keeps you up working late at night.

“Like [Sunday], after being on the air all day, I was up until past 2 o’clock this morning and I will again [Monday night]. To make sure I understand who these teams are, who these kids are. And then I do justice to their story: This story that deserves a chance to be told to a national audience. What they did to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Whether they were the 16th seed or the No. 1 seed, they deserve equal time and attention by the guy who is going to be documenting it for the rest of the world. So I feel tremendous responsibility during the first week of the tournament.

“That’s the one that really knocks the wind out of your sails. There’s a lot there to try to speed read through and make sure that you have it completely down cold. It’s fast and furious. It’s a lot of behind-the-scenes prep work. The games are the fun part. The preparation isn’t so bad, but it’s very intense.”

Though the national spotlight intensifies during the next few weeks, Nantz admitted his job becomes much easier after Week 1. “This is the week you’ve got to get through,” he said. “The next two weeks, the regionals and the Final Four, there are only three games to call and you’ve had all week to prepare for them, and you know who the teams are going to be. It’s a lot simpler.”

When Nantz finally gets to unwind by broadcasting  “a tradition unlike any other” — the Masters on CBS — he will have broadcast 17 basketball games in 23 days. “Now, that’s what knocks you on your backside,” he said. “It’s not really for me so much the transition from the Final Four to the Masters — those two, super, primo events. It’s the first week of the NCAA tournament that is the one that is hard to recover from.

“This month of March, the March Madness thing, the Madness is the first week of it.”

Viniterra is a new Rees Jones gem near Richmond, Va.

RICHMOND, VA. — The word “Viniterra” means loosely, “earth wines” or “land of grapes.” In the case of one gated, Richmond-area golf community — where there are not only luxury estate home sites and planned golf cottages, but also a world-class winery — either definition fits the bill.

Nestled just off Interstate 64 in the New Kent Vineyards Development of New Kent County, nearly equidistant between Richmond and Williamsburg, Viniterra is an environmentally sustainable community offering easy access to the Mid-Atlantic’s urban areas, the Mid-North Carolina Outer Banks, the James, York and Rappahannock Rivers — along with the Chesapeake Bay and seemingly endless, beautiful Virginia countryside.

The ongoing New Kent Vineyards Planned Unit Development has been designed to include five major land bays connected by a European style parkway utilizing roundabouts and wide natural buffers to retain the rural character of the area. Viniterra epitomizes upscale living at its finest, with estate-sized home sites surrounded by acres of unspoiled beauty.

There are a pair of glittering centerpieces to the Viniterra enclave: A stunning, Rees Jones-designed golf course called The Club at Viniterra, which has won the hearts of the area’s golfers since it opened its gates to select outside play a few months ago; and the equally remarkable New Kent Winery, built almost entirely using recycled building materials, which has won the hearts of the Virginia Wine Community.

The Club at Viniterra consists of slightly less than 1,200 acres of wooded and rugged terrain. Upon this parcel, Jones — the famed “U.S. Open Doctor,” son of legendary architect Robert Trent Jones and recipient of the Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America for his lifetime commitment to the game of golf — crafted a rolling, challenging jewel that can stretch to nearly 7,800 yards from the tips and flies against the grain of your typical Tidewater design.

With massive fairways and run-ups to nearly all of its jaw-dropping green complexes — combined with the thoughtful and strategic placement of various grass, sand and water hazards — Viniterra is enjoyable for golfers who select the proper set of tees (some holes offer up to a dozen different teeing grounds).

The masterful Jones course routing incorporates many of the diverse, natural features of the site including frequent and dramatic elevation changes, various wetland areas and portions of mature, deciduous forest. Where appropriate, ponds and 13 bridges were built to provide both strategic and aesthetic value.

“You will never be bored at Viniterra no matter how many times you play,” said Bob Foster, Director of Golf. “The scenery is spectacular as there are amazing topography changes not normally found in this part of Virginia. Any golfer of any skill level can play and enjoy the course with yardages ranging from 5,200 to almost 7,800. From the back tees, it is a real brute and rated as one of the hardest in the Commonwealth.”

Echoing the development’s environmentally conservational practices, The Club at Viniterra saves as much as 80 percent of the water consumed by traditional courses and exclusively uses the grass hybrid “Celebration,” which is far more drought-resistant and requires 70 percent less water to maintain than traditional course sods.

The Jones design at Viniterra opened in late 2009 as an amenity to help sell real estate. Now that the golf course has fully matured, the developers elected to open for limited public play.

In addition, there are three different areas along the golf course from which the incredible New Kent Winery can be seen and enjoyed. Built by craftsmen with historic materials reclaimed from buildings and structures well over a century old — beautiful heart-pine trusses were reclaimed from a 1901 Southern Railroad Depot located in the Shockoe Bottom area of Richmond; while heart pine structural timbers and floor timbers were recovered from a Connecticut warehouse circa 1852 — the 17,000-square-foot winery is equipped with state-of-the-art wine-making equipment from around the world, and has already produced some of the finest wines in Virginia including Chardonnay, Reserve Chardonnay, Merlot, White Merlot, Meritage, Vidal Blanc and Norton — a grape native to Virginia.

Among the oldest counties in Virginia, New Kent was settled by the English and so named for Kent in England. The area was the setting for significant events in American history: Captain John Smith first visited New Kent in 1607, and the church where George and Martha Washington were wed still holds services there today. Names like Pocahontas, General Cornwallis and Thomas Jefferson also once called the region home, and many different armies have marched along New Kent’s roads — among the oldest in America — including British, American Revolutionary, Confederate and Union forces.

Today, New Kent is home to Colonial Downs, Virginia’s home of thoroughbred horse racing, as well as some of the most inviting wine country, offering natural beauty, ample privacy, and endless luxury amenities. The county is known for its rivers and streams ideal for sailing, fishing, and other outdoor activities for sportsmen.

(Editor’s Note: A version of this story originally appeared in the Spring 2012 version of Virginia Golf Report.)

Texas octogenarian “Tiny” Leach is a wise-cracking treasure trove of entertaining stories who during a Forrest Gump-type life helped change the course of women’s golf around the Lone Star State

Tiny Leach sold the land that would become Hyatt Lost Pines Resort near Austin, TX

BASTROP, TEXAS — While Marjorie “Tiny” Leach may not be a household name in the world of golf, she is a living legend in golf circles around her native Austin and throughout the Lone Star State.

Tiny’s “celebrity” is due in part to her nearly half-century of tireless work on behalf of the Texas Women’s Amateur Golf Association (TWAGA). Each year, the TWAGA Championship Trophy is given in honor of Tiny as a tribute to all she has given to the organization.

But there is far more to the story of the 81-year-old whose oversized spirit and ebullient personality belie her nickname. Indeed, Tiny Leach is a tough, independent, quick-witted woman who has lived a life that would make Forrest Gump proud; a Texas treasure who has excelled at various points along the way as a rancher, businesswoman and champion golfer.

Linksters tackling Wolfdancer Golf Club outside Austin learn about Tiny Leach firsthand when they pass through the Wolfdancer starter’s hut, which stands in her honor and includes a collage of photographs and articles documenting her numerous newsworthy experiences in and away from the game of golf.

The 150 acres of Wolfdancer Golf Club is part of the 405-acre Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa, which sits within a larger, 1,000-plus acre natural park. The Wolfdancer golf course was designed by Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest & Associates and has been lauded since it opened in 2006.

Before the Hyatt developers arrived the land’s previous owner had been Ms. Leach, who for many years had owned and operated a successful cattle ranch on the site nestled along the banks of the Colorado River, while at the same time running her Austin leather store, “Tiny’s Western Shop.”

The Bastrop County native says she was “born poor in money, but rich in family values” in 1930 to a second generation of central Texans. Tiny spent her childhood milking cows on her family’s dairy in Austin.

In 1951, Tiny began working at a boot and saddle shop under the tutelage of its owner, legendary cowboy, rodeo man, bootlegger and leather man T.C. “Buck” Steiner, learning to do custom hand tooling of leather goods while helping outfit everyone from famous gangsters to Texas governors.

Eight years later, Tiny took a small stake and struck out on her own.

She was in her 20s when Tiny decided to try her hand at golf, encouraged by her older brothers who had played the game and caddied most of their lives, and influenced by her Austin family friend Harvey Penick. She did not spend much time playing, however, electing instead to spend most of her time on the driving range and the putting green.

“I’d practice ‘til my hands like to wore out,” Ms. Leach says with her trademark Texas drawl. “People would ask me, ‘You ever gonna play or just practice?’ Well, I didn’t want to go out on the course and embarrass myself or anyone who knows me!”

It wasn’t long before all her practice began to pay off for Ms. Leach. She won the Austin women’s city championship three times in a row and in 1966 won the TWAGA state championship tournament before she “got busy making a living.”

While the business world was equally kind to Ms. Leach, she had a lifelong friend who over time had squandered the majority of her family inheritance. “She was born to money,” Ms. Leach says, “but as I like to say, ‘The show was over, the tent fell and the monkey died.” When her old friend eventually needed to sell her farmland she turned to Tiny, who bought the land in 1975.

In the early 2000s, Ms. Leach was approached by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) about selling her land — eventually telling her she could, in essence, name her price.

It was at that time Tiny discovered another of life’s important lessons.

“I learned a great motivator in life is being handed a lot of money you never thought you’d get,” Ms. Leach recalls with a laugh. “I walked into the bathroom of my store, looked at myself in the mirror and said, ‘Old lady, today we’re gonna sell us some land.’ I’d have been arrested for being insane if I didn’t sell.”

Through her myriad experiences, Ms. Leach has made the acquaintance of Texas golf legends like Babe Zaharias and Patty Berg, and she has enjoyed longtime friendships with legendary Austin natives Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite. In addition, Ms. Leach is responsible for founding the Texas Women’s Open Amateur tournament, a classic, match-play event open to all non-professional women golfers in the state.

After retiring from competitive golf, Ms. Leach became move involved with TWAGA and began serving on its board, eventually serving in every TWAGA board position at least once and serving as President several times.

In 1977 she became the TWAGA State Tournament Director, a position she has held ever since. Because of her endearing banter and her relationship with so many people in the golfing community she continues to bring the tournament to wonderful venues.

With a keen eye for details, Ms. Leach has worked hard to see that the tournaments are well placed and impeccably coordinated year after year. And she makes certain that the tournament maintains the integrity and sportsmanship that it was designed to do from the beginning.

When the 2010 state tournament host course lost its greens and was forced to back out at the last minute, Ms. Leach had the opportunity to bring her signature event to her one-time ranch, which now served as home to Wolfdancer Golf Club. Tiny approached Wolfdancer Director of Golf Eric Claxton and told him: “Wolfdancer is near and dear to my heart. Next year is my 80th birthday and I want to celebrate by having my tournament on your golf course.”

Appropriately, perhaps, the tournament at Wolfdancer proved one of the most popular in recent memory. At dinner the evening prior to the championship round, many of the Hyatt Lost Pines staff and 130 tournament contestants gathered around to serenade Ms. Leach with a heartfelt rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

“When I was young I realized I wanted to amount to something,” Ms. Leach says. “I saw in golf a chance to amount to something.

“It’s been a great trip,” she says. “It still is.”

RALEIGH N.C. (February 1, 2012) —

Turns out the reported closing was very temporary, as McConnell Golf has now announced formulation of a plan with the Musgrove Mill membership that will allow the club to continue operations. The plan includes a partnership that shares responsibility for keeping the club open, and if the new partnership is successful then the club will remain open indefinitely.

McConnell Golf president and CEO John McConnell said the company is planning to transform Musgrove Mill into a more regional golf course with some innovative membership opportunities expected to attract a wide range of golfers from all over the country.

“We have been very pleased with the outpouring of support and interest to maintain operations,” McConnell said. “Musgrove Mill is a special place and it is obvious that the members and community recognize the impact it has on the surrounding area. Our plans are to keep Musgrove open at this point and hopefully the excitement will continue to build.”

Designed by Arnold Palmer Design Company and opened in 1988, Musgrove Mill (www.musgrovemill.com) boasts 6,933 yards of challenging golf for a par of 72. Over the years, Musgrove Mill has hosted almost every South Carolina Golf Association event and Carolinas’ Amateur tournaments, and has been consistently ranked as Golfweek Magazine’s “America’s Top 100 Modern Courses” and Golf Digest’s “Top 10 Rated Golf Course for South Carolina.”

McConnell Golf bought Musgrove Mill (“The Mill” as it is affectionately referred) in 2007. Part of The Mill’s challenge is its remote location. Set in Clinton, S.C., about halfway between Greenville and Columbia, it is an hour and a half from the nearest other McConnell Golf property.

Yet, while Musgrove Mill is indeed off the beaten path — a special getaway reminiscent of Pine Valley in Clementon, N.J. — it is also a pure golf club where members and their guests will find the ultimate in destination golf.

The Mill features cottages for overnight accommodations, a first-rate practice facility, full-service clubhouse with a private chef, and historic significance as a former Revolutionary War battle site. Boasting a small, select membership, no tee times, and a secluded, natural course layout, The Mill is the ideal destination for the accomplished golfer.

The Mill’s course design is expertly placed amid the secluded landscape with topography ranging from wetlands, various elevations and the Enoree River. Musgrove Mill Golf Club is also part of the Musgrove Mill South Carolina State Park due to its unaltered natural beauty and significance as a former Revolutionary War battle site.

The Mill’s signature hole is the 189-yard par 3 seventh hole, which commands a tee shot over the bend of the Enoree River to reach the green. The hole was named one of “The King’s Dream 18,” an honor bestowed by Arnold Palmer to his best and most challenging designed holes.

McConnell said he has always envisioned Musgrove Mill as a tribute to pure golf and a great day-trip for any golfer wanting to tackle one of golf’s finest tests — a sanctuary for golfers to eat and rest their heads after their rounds.

“Musgrove Mill is a phenomenal golfing venue,” said McConnell. “It’s a true golfer’s golf club. Every shot demands a quality execution and there is a unique array of golf holes and hole design. There is not one hole that remotely resembles any other hole on the course.”

Harrison Michew with his mentor Arnold Palmer

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA — With an eye toward transforming the area’s only municipal golf course into a more profitable operation, the City of Pensacola and the Parks and Recreation Department invested $750,000 on what many would call a long overdue, “extreme makeover” to Osceola Municipal Golf Course.

Its new marketing slogan is: “Come Play Osceola Again For The First Time.”

The First Tee facility now includes a full-service, 70-person practice facility — complete with a massive, new putting and pitching green, and separate sand bunker — while golfers on the course will enjoy reconstructed green complexes with the finest putting surface available, concrete cart paths, more bunkers around the golf course and more trees.

Renowned architect Harrison Minchew, a long-time Arnold Palmer protégé, oversaw the six-month project with Lepanto Golf Construction out of Pomona Park, Fla.

Minchew and Lepanto constructed four new holes at Osceola, including a trio of new par-3s. The course remains approximately the same length — slightly more than 6,400 yards from the back tee boxes — but the former par-72 will reopen as a par-70. In addition, the new tee areas are squared and significantly larger, with separate tees for seniors and ladies, along with junior tee markers.

A grand re-opening event took place in October during the annual Mayor’s Cup Tournament, before which former U.S. Open champ Jerry Pate, a native of Pensacola, conducted a golf clinic at the practice facility. Other local touring professionals with ties to Osceola include Joe Durant, Heath Slocum, and Boo Weekley.

“I grew up playing Osceola,” said Durant. “I’ve probably played it a 1,000 times. It is very exciting to see the improvements. The new driving range and practice facility are great. The added length with the new tees, new bunkers, several new holes, and character designed into the greens will make the golf course enjoyable to all types of players.”

The course originally scheduled to open around the first of September but was postponed by a tropical storm — which actually proved to be a blessing as the new turf including the Mini Verde Bermuda grass greens is in very good condition.

The state-of-the-art practice area for the First Tee facility is located adjacent to the No. 1 tee, formerly No. 17, in front of the clubhouse. The former 17th hole at Osceola will be the new No. 1 hole. In addition, the Osceola clubhouse has also been refreshed with new carpeting, flat-screen TVs and a new restaurant.

It was the biggest reshaping effort since Osceola opened in 1926. Local reports say $500,000 was provided by local option sales tax money, while remainder will be paid back from course revenue in a five-year period.

“This place is near and dear to a lot of people’s hearts,” said Minchew. “The whole golf course will have a new look. The greens were nondescript now they are strategically re-contoured and much more playable the turf quality is going to be completely different. Now even the best golfers will have an enjoyable challenge from the new back tees. Everyone is very excited about it.”

Minchew said that along with expanding the First Tee program and other youth-teaching programs, the practice area will enable golfers to visit Osceola simply to hit a bucket of balls, practice some putting, have a sandwich and go home. This is the second First Tee facility Minchew has designed, the first one back in his hometown of Augusta, Georgia.

“It’s really neat to see all the kids out there practicing, even when the golf course was closed,” said Minchew.

The other signature element of the Osceola project is its green complexes. The grass on the greens is now MiniVerde Bermuda, the same putting surface on the revered putting surfaces at places like the Bay Hill Golf Club in Orlando and the Tournament Players Club Stadium Course at Sawgrass.

“The greens now will have as good of turf grass as you will find anywhere and they will be able to maintain the greens at a much higher level now,” says Minchew.

In addition, the asphalt cart paths that were originally constructed in 1978 have been replaced with white, concrete cart paths that have curbs and are routed with turnaround positions on certain holes. “It adds a cleaner look,” said Minchew.

Adrian Stills grew up playing at the course, and then later returned after a pro career to become the facility’s general manager. Eddie Daigle is Osceola’s talented course superintendent.

William Earl “Wild Bill” Mehlhorn — a native Texan who won more than 47 tournaments in his 10-year playing career and competed on the first Ryder Cup team in 1927, as well as the inaugural Master’s tournament — originally designed Osceola in 1926. Widely recognized at the time for the cowboy hat he wore on the golf course, Mehlhorn was a gallery favorite due to his uncanny accuracy combined with the fact that he was the longest hitter of his day — a fantastic shot maker and great teacher.

Despite historic wildfires in nearby Bastrop, TX, Austin's Wolfdancer Golf Club has thrived.

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Despite the record-breaking heat, historic drought and wildfires that severely impacted Bastrop, Texas a dozen miles to the east, the Wolfdancer Golf Club at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa proudly sports its best-ever playing conditions since it first emerged onto the Austin golf scene five years ago.

In fact, the resort’s picturesque setting played a major role in not only allowing the golf course to survive the summer elements, but thrive. Situated along the banks of the Lower Colorado River immediately adjacent to an 1,100-acre nature preserve caled McKinney Roughs Nature Park, Wolfdancer recently received the prestigious Audubon Sanctuary Certification and offers golfers an “Audubon Experience” while playing.

“Our location has played a very large part in our conditioning,” said Wolfdancer GC Director of Golf Eric Claxton. “Being located on the Colorado River and having access to water is a tremendous advantage. In addition, Wolfdancer has followed the LCRA’s Drought Contingency Plan, but with smarter utilization of our irrigation system we have been able to achieve water reduction and optimum playing conditions.”

Designed by Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest and Associates, the 7,205-yard, par-72 Wolfdancer was named after the Native American Tonkawa, who hunted and fished along the Colorado River long before Texas was a republic. Working with the naturally rich heritage of the land, Hills designed a layout that rambles over a dramatic 300-acre stretch of terrain dotted with oak, cedar elm and pecan trees and cut by the Colorado River, which dramatically frames the right side of the layout’s memorable finishing holes.

Claxton also credits the premium playing conditions at Wolfdancer to strict adherence to the club’s extensive agronomic plan, as well as having a great relationship with the club’s Golf Course Superintendent John Crall. “We have weekly drive-arounds and take a team approach to the conditioning of the golf course,” said Claxton. “Also, being 5 years old now the course has had an opportunity to mature and come into its own.”

Wolfdancer Golf Club employs a sophisticated irrigation system with more than 3,000 irrigation heads covering 110 acres. A central computer that controls this entire system is located in the Golf Course Superintendent’s office. As a result, Crall and his staff are able to identify individual heads and increase or decrease the run time depending upon the conditions — allowing the club to save a tremendous amount of water by identifying “Hot Spots” and only increasing the head(s) that affect that area instead of the entire fairway or hole.

“It takes time to fully understand the golf course and this system,” said Crall. “Being 5 years old now, we have been able to maximize the efficiency of golf course irrigation. “

Claxton said the fall season generally provides the best playing conditions at Wolfdancer GC, and with the course maturing over the past five years, the fall of 2011 has produced the finest playing conditions overall since the golf course opened in 2006.

“Golfers should come play Wolfdancer Golf Club right now to take full advantage of the optimum playing conditions,” Claxton said. “Our full golf experience is second to none with unparalleled service from the Golf Staff and playing a championship golf course during its prime. The summer heat is over and the temperatures are great to enjoy a great round of golf with friends and/or family.”