Yawning bunkers awaited the PGA pros in 1974 when today's 9th played as the 18th.
Winston-Salem, NC, is not exactly on most foursome's list of places to spend a long weekend or week in the Carolinas, but the fact is you could do worse, especially if you choose your courses - and local barbecue joints - carefully.
My week started at Salem Glen in Clemmons, NC, last Tuesday after a rainout in Roanoke, VA, on Monday. Salem Glen, which has all the affectations of a private club but is available to the daily fee player, is a challenging but fair Nicklaus Design course. It is fun to look for clues about Jack's influence in his firm's designs but, except for the occasional tree directly in play, Salem Glen looked more like a Rees Jones or Tom Jackson course than a layout that Jack built. That is more than faint praise, as I enjoyed Salem Glen thoroughly.
Wednesday found me on familiar ground at the Championship Course at Tanglewood Park, the legacy in Clemmons of Reynolds family tobacco interests. I had walked the course a few rounds earlier this decade following my son in junior tournaments held there, but I had also played it myself once before, in 1970 with my father and brother, four years before Trevino beat Nicklaus by one in the PGA Championship.
Tanglewood is a classic Robert Trent Jones course with fairway touches and green complexes that I would see again later in the week at the massively redesigned Finley course at the University of North Carolina, a Tom Fazio masterpiece. I see lots of similarities in the two courses, in the large and often high-lipped bunkering and the sometimes misshapen greens. I don't intend to wait another 37 years to play Tanglewood, or Finley for that matter, and I'll make a full day of it next time by playing the sporty second 18 on the Reynolds Course.
On my way to Chapel Hill on Thursday, I got a late start and stopped at Stoney Creek, just off I-40 in Whitsett. I like Tom Jackson courses generally, and the first nine holes at Stoney Creek were sporting, if not dramatic. I never got to see the finishing holes; after nearly three hours on the front nine behind a few foursomes that were playing at a six-hour clip, I gave up. I know it is the late fall, but the occasional presence of a ranger might help speed up play a touch.
My round at Finley was great for a number of reasons, not the least of it the fine company of friend Bob Harris, who teaches at the business school at the University of Virginia but recently moved back to Chapel Hill with his lovely wife, Leone. Bob had not played much golf lately, but after the round at Finley, he is vowing to reinvigorate his play. He should. He made four birdies, three with substantial putts on very difficult greens, the last at the 18th, where he went from a stroke behind me to a one stroke victory. I will make sure to have Bob with me the next time I play Finley, since he clearly understood the contours of the greens better than I did (I made one sizeable putt all day). But you know you are playing a fine course when you don't mutter too much about misaligned putts and Donald Ross-like crowned greens that make chipping both necessary and nearly
impossible. The layout was phenomenal, the greens lightning fast and the chance meeting with fellow golf blogger Henry Lister, of OffTheBeatenCartPath.com, icing on the cake.
I didn't eat cake at any restaurants during my week, but I did eat well. I am a barbecue fan, and when in North Carolina, do as they do, which is to say lots of pulled pork with that tangy vinegar based barbecue that was invented in the Lexington area, just south of Winston-Salem. Little Richards in the city is widely hailed as the best of the area's Q - along with any number of places in Lexington itself - but I made a strategic ordering mistake. I ordered the large chopped plate, which meant big chunks of pork that were a little dry. My lunch was saved by a good dousing of the tangy vinegar sauce on the table, but the next time I will go with the regular, more shredded pig.
On Wednesday night, I ventured to the Arts District of Winston-Salem where folks are trying to inject some vigor into a fairly moribund city center. I strolled through a nice pottery and crafts shop, bought two bottles of wine for the Harrises at a terrific wine bar and then settled at the bar at the Trade Street restaurant Sweet Potatoes, where the barkeep was friendly and chatty, the pork chops with an apple brandy sauce sweet and tangy, and the atmosphere warm and lively. Count me among those rooting for the Arts District to help turn the downtown around.
After the round at Finley, I had about the best North Carolina barbecue I have ever had, at Allen & Sons in Chapel Hill (they have another outlet in nearby Pittsboro). The shredded pork was beautifully smoked and heavily sauced in the kitchen and came out wet and wild, with crispy hush puppies and excellent, indigenous, chopped cole slaw (which is to say, no mayo necessary). The pork was so good I had them put together a one-pound container in a bag of ice for the 10-hour trip home. The next day we ate it for lunch, and my wife and daughter thought I was their hero...if only for an hour.
Great golf, great barbecue and a great week.
The par 3 5th at Finley forces a precise tee shot.
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