Brasier column: Carolinas golf shines despite February snow and cold

For all but a few days, February weather was terrible. Snow, ice, rain, high winds, sub-freezing temperatures.

But the month is over. Goodbye, February! Hello, March!

Still, February wasn’t all bad. For golfers, the month was another reminder of how strong golf is in the Carolinas.

And I’m not referring only to our big populations areas — Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Wilmington — or our world-famous golf destination areas — Pinehurst, Linville, Cashiers, Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head Island and Charleston.

As someone who migrated to the Carolinas from the Mid-South 40 years ago, I may have a unique perspective. I grew up in a region where small-town life means very little opportunity to play golf.

The Carolinas is golf country like no other place. As February reminded us, we live in golf Heaven — from Clinton, North Carolina, to Inman, South Carolina.

For me, February provided two great reminders.

The first came Feb. 14 at Carolinas Golf Night, which included the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame inductions. Just the date should tell you something. Not that the Pinehurst Resort Ballroom was booked for every other Saturday night in the month — I’m not sure it was. Perhaps only in the Carolinas would such a grand event be held on Valentine’s Day.

As a friend at the Carolinas Golf Association joked, it saved a lot of men a lot of money. Truth is, I heard nary a complaint from anybody about it.

On that night, Robert Dedman and Robert Dedman Jr., owners of Pinehurst Resort, who have established the Pinehurst area as a premier international destination and brought USGA headquarters and a commitment to the Pinehurst No. 2 as a U.S. Open anchor site, were honored for their achievements and contributions.

So was, Jack Nance, who grew up in tiny Clinton at modest Cohaire Country Club, played golf at Wake Forest and led the CGA through its amazing growth and prominence during a four-decade career. If you haven’t checked out the impressive CGA Headquarters at Pine Needles Resort or checked out the playing opportunities through CGA events, you should.

Nance’s accomplishments at the CGA may only be surpassed by his graciousness with members, sponsors and anyone else lucky to make his acquaintance.

We also celebrated the CGA’s Players of the Year. Those included Senior Woman honoree Dawn Woodard, who grew up in Nichols, South Carolina — not much more than a crossroads near the N.C.-S.C. border with little else except tobacco fields. Woodard, who turned down a chance to play basketball at UNC to play golf at Furman, won the 2025 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur.

The second reminder came last weekend when 26-year-old Jacob Bridgeman won on the PGA Tour at Riviera. Bridgeman grew up in small Inman, S.C., a small foothills town 20 minutes Spartanburg.

Bridgeman’s success is only the latest of many Carolinas golfers to win on the world’s biggest stage. And many are from small towns.

North Carolinas has a rich line, led by the likes of Ray Floyd, Davis Love III, Chip Beck, Scott Hoch, Webb Simpson, J.T. Poston, Charlie Sifford … The list goes on and on. I’m not going to try to list them all. But I should add Akshay Bhatia, a 24-year-old from Raleigh, who already has two PGA Tour victories.

Every week, the PGA Tour leaderboard seems to include different players from North Carolina.

South Carolina’s great players started with Henry Picard, the 1938 Masters champion. Lucas Glover, Dustin Johnson, Jonathan Byrd, D.J. Trahan, Dillard Pruitt, Bill Haas and Ben have won on the PGA Tour in the modern era. Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey was a laborer in tiny Bishopville, S.C., before advancing to the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour events. Chris Patton from then-rural Simpsonville won the U.S. Amateur.

While golf has long been a global game — at the college level, too — Clemson won the 2003 NCAA Championship with an all-South Carolina lineup.

Both Carolinas have spectacular golf courses throughout the states, including small towns. That’s easy to see in the Triad, where you can find special layouts from Asheboro to Mt. Airy and Bermuda Run to Burlington.

As golfers, we should appreciate that we live in a special region. February weather notwithstanding.