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Insider – by David Droschak


aul Simson will turn 66 years old in May yet shows no signs of hanging the golf clubs in the garage quite yet.


The Raleigh native accepted his eighth Senior


Men’s Player of the Year award in February from the Carolinas Golf Association after win- ning two CGA championships in 2016 to push his record total to 31 CGA titles. “When I first became a senior I kind of


expected I would win some and maybe be player of the year, but I’m getting a little bit older now so you appreciate it every year more and more as far as what it means and what it represents -- especially in the Carolinas where we have so many good players,” Simson said. Simson won the North Carolina Senior in


Wilmington and the North Carolina Super Senior in Kinston in contrasting styles last year. Simson came from six shots back to win his eighth


North Carolina Senior Amateur Championship in the past 11 years, carding a final-round 66 that included seven birdies. Then in late September, Simson started the final round of the North Carolina Super Senior Championship with a five-shot lead and cruised to a


Simson has another senior moment with latest CGA honor


10-shot victory by backing up his first round 65 with a bogey-free 66. Those scores are significant since Simson has now


shot is age eight times … and counting. “I do kind of keep track of it and I do


think about it a little bit, especially when you’re 65 or 66 because that’s a pretty good score to shoot,” Simson said about shooting his age. “I also just made my 12th hole-in- one, and when I got home my wife said ‘you should write them all down because you may start to forget some soon.”’ Simson, who underwent heart surgery in 2013 but is now healthy, didn’t really


start winning CGA titles until 1990, which makes


his 31 championships even more remarkable. “No, I never had any thoughts of this,” Simson


said of his gaudy amount of amateur golfing titles. “I was just thrilled I won one because for the longest time between 1984 and 1990 I had nine or 10 second places and I was wondering if I would ever win. Then all of the sudden in 1990 I won the Mid-Amateur and then the next year was when the flood gates opened and I won the N.C. Amateur, the Carolinas Amateur and repeated in the Mid Amateur.”


No CGA golfer had ever won those three presti-


gious championships in the same season, and no one has since Simson pulled off the feat 25 years ago. “You win once and you get lots of confidence,”


he said. “You see it on the PGA Tour, you see it in all sports, once you win it kind of feeds on itself. That is what has happened to me and I’ve still got that feeling; I still love winning. You get me close to a champion- ship and I am as focused as anybody. I’ll be the first to rip your heart out on the golf course but be the first to congratulate you when you do win.” Simson’s goal this year is to play well enough to


earn a spot on the 2018 Concession Cup team, which is a biennial team competition played between teams comprised of leading male Mid-Amateurs, Senior- Amateurs and Senior Amateurs age 65+ from the United States and Great Britain and Ireland. “I really enjoy playing those competitions with the


folks overseas, and I am still exempt for the U.S. Senior through 2022, and I’m still competitive,” Simson said. “The fellow who won the tournament this year beat me in 20 holes and it was only because he made a hole-in- one on a par 4. So, I still feel I’m competitive even at the best levels.”


Pinehurst Resort focuses on the future with No. 4 redesign


course as part of a master plan to further restore the original character and spirit to the resort’s golf experience. Unfolding in several stages over the next few


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years, the plan also includes restoring Donald Ross’ original characteristics to Pinehurst No. 1 and No. 3. “There’s a unique character at Pinehurst


because of the landscape Donald Ross found when he arrived in 1900,” said Bob Dedman, Pinehurst Resort owner and CEO. “Back then, he may have been a minimalist by necessity, but we’re making a choice to present our historic golf courses in a natu- ral state similar to that era.” Pinehurst’s migration toward more natural


settings began with the highly-acclaimed 2011 res- toration of Pinehurst No. 2, which took the course back to Ross’ vision. The success of that project was influential in the decision to revive more original characteristics, while creating new elements reflec- tive of Pinehurst’s origins. The centerpiece of the plan will be Hanse’s com-


plete redesign of No. 4. Hanse’s design and routing will include exposed sand and native wire grass, wider fairways and natural topography.


4 TRIANGLE GOLF TODAY • SPRING 2017


il Hanse, who designed the 2016 Olympic Golf Course in Rio, will rede- sign Pinehurst No. 4 and develop a short


The project is scheduled to begin in fall 2017


with the course reopening in fall 2018. “We think this approach will create a more


authentic, visually interesting golf course and one that feels in tune with its unique surrounds,” said Hanse, whose restoration projects include Merion Golf Club and Oakland Hills Country Club, among others. “A playable, artfully shaped and conceived golf course that derives its character and appear- ance from the traditional golf flavor of this region is what we aspire for in our approach to Pinehurst No. 4.”


SPRING 2017 YOUR CONTACTS FOR GOLF:


Main Office P.O. Box 11784, Winston-Salem, NC 27116 Phone: 336-924-1619


Publisher: Jay W. Allred, E-mail: jay@triadgolf.com


Editor: David Droschak, E-mail: David@triadgolf.com


Triangle Golf Today, published seven times a year, serves the Triangle region of North Carolina. While our information is gathered from dependable sources, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information. We do not accept responsibility for the validity of our advertisers. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use without written consent is prohibited. Triangle Golf Today and trianglegolf.com are trademarks owned by Piedmont Golf Today, Inc. © 2017.


NEXT ISSUE: April 12, 2017


ON THE COVER: Richard Sykes, retiring after 46 years as N.C. State men’s golf coach, discusses strategy with former player Carl Pettersson.


Photo courtesy of N.C. State Athletics. www.trianglegolf.com


Volume 18 • No. 1


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