The Second Annual Mid Pines Hickory Open Championship 2005

This years event took place in perfect weather, and the courses were in superb condition. A strong field competed for the prizes with players from Australia, Scotland, England and Canada adding an international flavor.

The Dornoch Cottage

Festivities kicked off with a welcome reception at the Dornoch Cottage, graciously hosted by Mr & Mrs. Bob Hansen. The 'cottage' was the home of Donald Ross, and who better to keep the Dornoch tradition alive than the Hansens. Not only do they both inherit the great man's renowned graciousness and courtesy, but Bob Hansen's collection of Golf Artifacts and Memorabilia are surely second to none.

Foursomes

The foursomes event kicked off competitive activities on Friday the 3rd of November at the recently re-modeled Pine Needles, venue of next years Womens Open Championship. All the players had nothing but praise for the course, and all are agreed that it is a fine and fitting venue for an open. The weather was perfect in the mid-seventies with the sun shining - leaving some of us wishing our golf could live up to the perfection of venue and the weather.

Tad Moore and Roger Hill took top honors with an impressive 78 with, as they say in horse racing, the rest of the field nowhere.

For the losers there was ample compensation in the magnificent lunch that was laid on at the presentation ceremonies. The fare had a traditional British flavor, with the steak and oyster pie getting rave reviews. If you had room for desert the bread pudding with whiskey sauce had you heading for an afternoon nap rather than a practice round at Mid Pines.

Welcome Ceremonies

The welcome ceremonies took place on the lawn of Mid Pines and featured the St. Andrews Presbyterian College Pipe Band. Their renderings of the classic Scottish tunes were performed to perfection and brought a tear to the eye of some of us exiles.

The ceremonies were followed by a superb diner at Mid Pines Inn. Rob Pelewski gave the Blessing and then we tucked into good old fashioned roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. This meal following on from the luncheon earlier in the day had many of us quietly un-cinching our belts and thinking that it would probably be best not to take a cart on the morrow, but rather to walk the 18, wishfully hoping to burn off 1 or 2 of the many thousand calories consumed!

Following the meal John Derr, once called a modern day Chaucer, regaled us with reminiscences of his long career in sports broadcasting including many insights into Ben Hogan's legendary exploits.

The Mid Pines Hickory Open Day I

Saturday saw the start of another perfect day, the course was in great shape and the golf was keenly contested, although some of those competitors who had been in town since the beginning of the week were beginning to realize that four straight nights of partying may not have been the best preparation for pitting ones skills against a Donald Ross classic!

That evening there was Golf memorabilia and hickory equipment show in the Conference Center at Mid Pines. Among others, the Hansens displayed some of their artifacts;Sony Chappie was showing off his new driver inserts; and Tad Moore his new Hickory sets. The wise among us headed for an early night; the not-so-wise headed for another night on the town!

The Mid Pines Hickory Open Day II

Sunday started with a sun-rise service followed by a group photo. With yet another perfect day and setting many must have thought that this would be as close as we could get to paradise on this earth!

Again the competion was stiff, and most players managed to improve on their scores of the previous day. Local players made a strong showing with Kelly Miller and host Rob Pelewski taking 1st and 3rd in the Open Net division, and Jay Harris taking second place in the Senior division. In the Father son section, Tom & Bryan Stewart, had an impressive 71!

Prizes were awarded by Rob Pelewski at another magnificent spread put on by the Inn, followed by an auction for First Tee of items donated by Tom Stewart. All that was left then were for final handshakes and farewells as we went our various ways, hopefully to be able to meet again next year.

As first-timer Dan MacLellan was heard to say wagging his impressive highlander eyebrows, "You know, I think this is the most fun I've ever had at a golf event", strong praise indeed from a man who has played 'every course worth playing' in Scotland!

F.B 2005-11-21