North Carolina State University Athletics
PEELER: Poole Enjoys Inaugural Round at LPGC
7/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. – Monday morning, as he flew home from Morehead City, Lonnie Poole flew his high-winged Cessna 210 right over the golf course on NC State’s Centennial Campus that bears his name.
Tuesday morning, he got a more intimate look at every nook and cranny of the Arnold Palmer Signature course as he played the Lonnie Poole Golf Course for the first time since it opened in late June.
Poole, a 1959 graduate of NC State and the president and chairman of the board of Raleigh’s Waste Industries USA, donated $3 million to pay for the naming rights for the new course, and considered it money well spent.
For the most part.
“I’ll you what, I didn’t spend a penny for those back tee boxes and all these sand traps,” said Poole, after struggling through some rough spots during his first nine holes. “I hope somebody else’s money went for those.”
The course opened to the public on Monday, after a three-week preview period for the Charter Partners, those donors who helped fund the $11.3 million project. For more information about the course, visit www.lonniepoolegolfcourse.com.
Poole was joined for the loose inaugural round by Roger Watson, Glen Futrell and Paul Michaels, the son of the late Al Michaels, who was the long-time NC State men’s golf coach, defensive coordinator for football and interim head football coach in 1971.
Michaels, a Raleigh lawyer who earned a degree in economics from NC State in 1969, has played the course nearly every day since it opened to Charter Partners in late June. He was pleased to share his local knowledge with the course’s namesake.
“A lot of people contributed to this, but without Lonnie’s commitment to this I am not sure we would have ever broken ground on this, especially in the economic climate we have now,” Michaels said. “Seeing a golf course on NC State’s campus goes back a long way, even when my father was the golf coach.
“People have been waiting for a long time to see this happen.”
Technically, Tuesday was not the first time Poole has hit a shot on the piece of land. On July 9, 2007, he joined PGA Tour professional Carl Pettersson and Palmer in hitting the first shots during the official groundbreaking. But that was from a temporary tee box, hitting into an uncleared field of kudzu and scruff pine trees.
“We’ve come a long way since that groundbreaking,” Poole said. “I’ve watched this piece of land go from green to red and back to green again. I’ve never seen so much red mud as when they started building this thing.”
Overall, Poole was pleased with Palmer’s completed product, even if he had a few beefs about how the course suited his game.
“I told Arnold that I didn’t want any dogleg lefts and no sand traps,” said Poole, just before he teed off on the 11th hole. “He didn’t pay any attention to me.”
Poole can take it up with Palmer later this month when the legendary golfer returns to Raleigh for the official grand opening, an invitation-only affair for Charter Partners and invited guests. Palmer will also be back in Raleigh on Aug. 16 as part of the Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic, which will be hosted at the LPGC Aug. 14-16.
On Tuesday, Poole was enjoying his inaugural round, which was long and a little loose with the technical rules of the game.
“Lonnie plays his own game out here,” Watson said. “You can do that, I guess, when your name is on the course.”
But Watson benefitted from Poole’s charitable mood. He even won a free week’s rental on a trash container when he bet Poole that he could clear the lake on No. 15 from the gray tees.
The foursome spent a lot of time reveling in all the various views of downtown Raleigh, the native grasses and bunkers and the nearly pristine groves of hardwoods and evergreens that serve as boundaries.
“It’s a tough course,” said Futrell: “It makes you feel like you are in the foothills with all hills and the elevation changes out here.”
After a long lunch at the turn in the temporary clubhouse, the foursome went back out on the course for the final nine holes.
For Poole, it was a day-long opportunity to enjoy the investment he made to his alma mater, for a project that has been talked about for decades.
“We have waited for this a long time,” Poole said. “But we all know that golf is a game of patience, and it has been well worth the wait.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
