| Bloodlines run deep in golf. Since its
beginning, the love of the game has been handed down from
generation to generation within families. A father teaches
his son to play, and the son, when grown, then teaches his
son.
In the case of the Ray family of Hillsborough, the legacy
has been expanded to include a golf course named after a local
native Indian tribe, which inhabited the area centuries ago.
Occoneechee Golf Club, a 6,109-yard course located 15 minutes
east of Burlington on Lawrence Road, is the creation of the
late Marvin Ray. His son Jim and grandson Scott are the beneficiaries.
And so are area golfers.
The 18-hole layout situated in the gently rolling hill country
near the Eno River in historic Hillsborough began, like many
golf courses in the area, as a family farm. Raising beef cattle
occupied most of Marvin Ray’s attention, but, according to
grandson Scott, "he grew a little bit of everything."
Like other farmers, he also did additional work. While working
for the Parks and Recreation Department in Charlotte, he was
asked to rebuild a golf course there.
He was so successful at it that in 1963 he decided to turn
a part of his 120-acre farm into a nine-hole course. Occoneechee
Golf Club was born.
Four years later the back nine was added, and the course became
private. At the beginning of the 1993 season, Occoneechee
became semi-private, allowing outside play for the first time
in 25 years.
Today more than 700 members call Occoneechee Golf Club their
home course, and more than 36,000 rounds of golf are played
there annually.
A friendly family atmosphere prevails, and no one stands on
ceremony. Jim Ray prefers "head ditch digger" to the title
"Director of Golf" and seemed more concerned with the outcome
of a recent Duke-State basketball game than with answering
questions for this article.
The addition of head professional Russ Hanshumaker was, according
to course superintendent Scott Ray, the most important change
to take place at Occoneechee of late. The Long Island, N.
Y., native graduated from State University of New York and
professional golf school in California before coming to Occoneechee
in August 1994.
Hanshumaker’s duties include giving lessons by appointment,
running the various club tournaments and overseeing the well-equipped
pro shop.
Attendants Paul Gillespie and Greg Barnes provide friendly
service and keep interested sports fans advised of late-breaking
sports news coming from the clubhouse television.
Though no hot-food grill is in operation, an adequate supply
of sandwiches and soft drinks is available to keep any golfer
refreshed.
The course is kept in shape by the Rays and maintenance assistants
John Coburn, Keith Hollis and Brice Shetler.
The layout is interesting and, though not particularly long,
provides a pleasant challenge to golfers of varying levels
of skill.
Accuracy rather than length off the tee is critical. And with
water coming into play on at least 10 holes, some of the already
narrow, tree-lined fairway openings to the well-bunkered greens
seem even smaller.
The first few holes offer the golfer a chance to get off to
a good start. If he’s on his game he’ll card plenty of pars
and even chances for birdies, but as he plays along the course
becomes more interesting – and more challenging.
The fifth and sixth holes begin that challenge. The fifth
starts with a blind tee shot to a sharp dogleg left down a
narrow fairway framed with tall pine trees. An accurate mid-iron
approach to a small sloping green guarded on both sides by
sand traps rewards the golfer with a chance for a well-deserved
par 5.
The sixth is another dogleg left, the longest par-4 on the
course, with water down the left side and trees on the right.
A second pond guards the left side of the small green which
slopes off severely to the back.
The most salient particular of the back nine is its variety
of elevations.
Ten is a mid-iron par-3 with woods left, pine trees right
and a severe drop-off beyond the tee box to an elevated green
which is sand-trapped left and right.
Eleven features a tee which is 100 feet higher than the right-sloping,
tree-lined fairway to a tiny green with water in front and
sand traps on both sides. Par is a good score here. It is
welcome on the remainder of the back nine holes, too.
But the mallard ducks that swim in the ponds around thc course
don’ t seem to care what score you shoot. The spring peepers
that keep up a steady song in the evening don’t mind.
And neither do the bluebirds nibbling on the berries of the
juniper trees that line a number of fairways at Occoneechee
Golf Club.
Perhaps they remember what it was like before golf came to
this Orange County farmland.
But Scott Ray is not thinking of the past. He is looking to
the future.
"For the money end of it, we’re a good deal," he said. "Even
though our course was built from a farm, we’re more than just
a farm course." A lot more.
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