SCHAUMBURG GOLF CLUB has three simulators that are open daily. So now is the time to start getting ready for the outdoor golf season. Come and enjoy Chandlers Chophouse and play the Schaumburg Golf Club on the simulators before the club opens for the outdoor season. Lessons and Fittings are available. For more details please visit Schaumburggolf.com or call the club 401 N. Roselle at (847)-885-9000.
THE GOG BLOG by RORY SPEARS, Director of Content and Creation for Golfers on Golf. Follow Rory on Twitter @GogBlogGuy or connect on LinkedIn and Facebook.
Welcome to the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst NC.
PINEHURST NORTH CAROLINA is known as “The Home of American Golf” starting at the Pinehurst Resort with courses created by the famed architect Donald Ross.
Pinehurst has and will continue to host tournaments like the U.S. Open’s and the U.S. Amateur.
The Pinehurst and Sandhills area is great place for golf, and Pinehurst is not the only resort in town. But it’s not the only great golf facility either. Because just down the street from the resort, sits one of the great private clubs in America. The 36 hole Country Club of North Carolina is a private facility, but has a great history in addition to the two outstanding golf courses within the club.
Because golfers can’t go wrong on either of CCNC’s two-championship golf courses, Dogwood and Cardinal. Dogwood has been on several Top 100 lists over the years.
The first green on the Dogwood Course at CCNC.
The clubs rich history starts in 1962 when a group of local businessmen, found the right piece of property.
That piece of property was 900-acres of land, with plenty of sand and pine tree’s and sits on a stretch of land between Pinehurst and the neighboring town of Southern Pines.
The original owner John Warren Watson, a Philadelphia engineer had a dream to build a golf course and hotel on the property. But those plans never came to be before Watson passed away, but his home still stands today on the property.
The par-3 third hole on the CCNC-Dogwood course.
Raleigh account Dick Urquhart, Greensboro investment banker Hargrove “Skipper” Bowles, Greensboro builder Griswold Smith, and attorney James Poyner became the four founding members.
But it didn’t take them long to recruit over three dozen other charter members, that represented a Who’s Who of North Carolina to join the club.
From there Atlanta based planner Willard Byrd, and Donald Ross Protege’ Ellis Maples, to design the community and golf course.
The par-4 11th hole on the Dogwood golf course.
Golf at the club started in December of 1963, with two nines-Longleaf and Dogwood.
These proved to be so popular that Byrd was brought back to build a third nine hole course. The land was acquired in a property trade with the Tuft family who owned Pinehurst.
But by 1970, more land was needed, and then acquired from Robert Trent Jones. But as part of the deal, Jones was hired to build nine more holes, the two 18 hole courses were then re-named Dogwood and Cardinal.
Dogwood plays to a par of 72, and over 7,300 yards from the back tees. But Cardinal isn’t much shorter at a par of 72, and yardage that plays over 7,200 yards.
Championship golf arrived in 1965 with the club hosting the North Carolina State Amateur. By 1971 and 1972 it played host to the U.S. Professional Match Play Championships (Jack Nicklaus won in 1972). Hal Sutton won the U.S. Amateur in 1980, the first of the USGA championships the club has hosted.
The club has kept up with the times by having architects Arthur Hills renovate Cardinal in 2001, and Kris Spence update Dogwood in 2016. Jeff Dotson the clubs head golf professional, has been there over 30 years.
CLICK HERE to hear the full interview with the Country Club of North Carolina’s long time head golf professional Jeff Dotson.
The club offers several activities in addition to golf. Because other options include hiking, fishing, racquets, health club, and a swimming pool. Dotson says there are multiple categories of membership, with openings in some of the membership categories.
Dotson says the club has hosted numerous North Carolina amateur championships, but a USGA Championship could still be years away.
But since the club is private, visitors wishing to play CCNC would need a member invitation. Because the area of Pinehurst and Moore County is quickly seeing it’s population growing, the club’s membership could grow as well. For more information on the Country Club of North Carolina please visit ccofnc.com.
Sitting in the shadow of the Pinehurst Resort, the Country Club of North Carolina provides one of the top private golf experiences in America.