Summer = Bent Grass Season?!

Welcome to the Two Down Press golf newsletter!

We have the second installment in our Day Trips series this week, as former App State golfers Andrew Furr and Eric Eberspeaker take us to Boone Golf Club. Huge thanks to Andrew and Eric for the write-up! I’m sad to say I’ve yet to visit myself, but these photos have me keen to make a trip this fall.

We’ll wrap with a few other Charlotte golf odds-and-ends as we close out the month of February. As always, thanks for reading.

DAY TRIPS

Beat the Heat at Boone Golf Club

Boone Golf Club is a gem hiding in plain sight. While the private courses out Highway 105 get a lot of attention, this public facility adjacent to downtown offers bang for your buck and proximity to the mountain town’s other attractions.

2 hours from Charlotte. 10 degrees cooler in the summer. Surrounded by great scenery, hiking, and restaurants. Bent grass everywhere. Need I say more?

In case you still need to be sold on the trip, here’s what two former App State golfers have to say about their home course.

My (Andrew’s) first memory of Boone Golf Club is a fond one. As I arrived at the course I would call home for the next 4 years, I was greeted by a large parking lot flanked on 3 sides by an artisan rock wall and rhododendrons in early bloom. It was late April at 3,333 feet of elevation. As I got out of my car and looked beyond the rustic A-frame club house, I was amazed to see lush striped fairways, deep green rough, and sinister hay lining the outer perimeter of what I would learn to be the 7th hole.

BGC opened in the summer of ’59, sprawling some 200 acres and designed by Ellis Maples, who was known to have been influenced by many of Donald Ross’s design principles. Remarkably simple from tee to green and stretching just 6,686 yards (par 71) from the tips, the course may seem benign at first glance. As you approach the putting surfaces, however, BGC’s teeth come out with a vengeance, rewarding those who demonstrate precise ball control on approach shots and creativity on and around the putting surface. 

BGC is not your standard turf grass experience. Accurate tee shots are rewarded with immaculate lies in bent grass fairways (yes, you can and should replace these divots). Wayward tee shots will find Kentucky bluegrass rough, which can be penal, but in a “judging the jumper” kind of way. If you happen to catch a flier, it would not be surprising to see your ball sailing towards one of the following: natural mountain creeks, wild rhododendron, hardwoods or pines, cattle pastures, a local airport runway, or on select holes, single-family dwellings!

Memorable holes include #1, an elevated tee with views of Rich Mountain, Snake Mountain, and Elk Knob (all >5,000ft) - great opening tee shot and one we took for granted! Hole #3 wakes you up after two gentle opening holes. Playing 215 from the tips and often into a prevailing wind, the shot must avoid a marshy area short and a creek/cow pasture long and left. #6 is a par 5 which rewards good drives with a chance to go for the green. The tee to green experience can be “sleepy” for skilled players, but every pin location is something you would expect to see at your club’s “tough day” - I once saw a plus handicap hit the green in two then walk off with 9. #18 plays tricks on the mind. From the tee you feel like you are trying to thread it down a chute (think 18 at Augusta), but there is PLENTY of room right and left. I always liked the psychological aspect of the tee shot, as well as the 2nd shot which proved difficult to judge. 

Two quick anecdotes to close: my cousin, a caddy at Sea Island Golf Club (home of the RSM Classic), played one round at BGC ten years ago. To this day, he still raves about his experience, referring to it as one of the most beautiful courses he’s ever played. My grandfather, 75 years old and barely able to drive 200 yards, lost zero golf balls (very unusual playing his home courses in Florida) and called it one of his most enjoyable rounds.

Looking for more than golf? No worries! BGC is 5 minutes from Appalachian Mountain Brewery (AMB) – this was Boone’s first legal brewery and a great VIBE. They “sold out” in 2018,a but were repurchased in 2023 from AB InBev by the original family. Booneshine Brewing is also a popular stop up on King Street - great because it’s near lots of other restaurants, shops, and the campus. Getting hungry? The following places won’t disappoint: Come Back Shack, Dan’l Boone Inn, Coyote Kitchen, Black Cat Burrito, Melanie’s, and Sunrise Grill.

[Editor’s note: the previous list is Andrew/Eric’s list, but I couldn’t be caught dead publishing Boone dining recs without mentioning Sticky Boy Kitchen. I could eat 3 meals a day at this place and it’s 1 mile from the golf course. Think Sunflour Baking Company but with a bigger menu.]

STORIES TO TRACK

Johnny Harris Speaks at PGA Championship Media Day: A slew of news outlets were in attendance earlier this week as club President Johnny Harris predicted record crowds for this May’s event. Harris also spoke on the club’s desire to remain a key player in the golf ecosystem by hosting the game’s biggest tournaments (subscription required).

• I’m torn: I can sympathize with those growing weary of a steady diet of Quail, as holding major championships and team competitions at frequent tour stops can seem like a missed opportunity (the Torrey Pines U.S. Open phenomenon). As a local, however, I feel the exact opposite. It’s amazing to see the game’s best return annually, and the smattering of mega-tournaments (PGA, Presidents Cup, etc.) are a huge asset for the city.

Charlotte Observer Publishes High School Golf Season Preview: The piece focuses on both teams and players to watch in the upcoming season, which ramps up in early March. Sounds like Ardrey Kell and Charlotte Catholic are both STACKED, but the article goes far beyond the 4A state title contenders and highlights the depth of young talent calling greater-Charlotte home.

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