North Carolina State University Athletics
PEELER: Poole Loves His Golf Course Legacy
7/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. – Later today, Lonnie Poole gets to give golf legend Arnold Palmer a piece of his mind.
Poole, the 1959 NC State graduate who secured the naming rights for NC State’s newly opened public golf course, will join Palmer and hundreds of other donors and dignitaries at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course at an invitation-only grand opening event.
And he knows just what he’ll say: Thank you.
Poole is well-pleased with what Palmer’s design company did with the pristine land in the southwest corner of Centennial Campus, which will serve as the home for the NC State varsity golf teams, its Professional Golf Management program and the its top-ranked turfgrass management program.
A large measure of the credit goes to a pair of NC State graduates who are architects for the Arnold Palmer Design Company, Erik Larsen and Brandon Johnson, who maintained a near-constant presence during the two-year construction process. Palmer, who joined Poole and PGA Tour pro Carl Pettersson in taking the first shots into the uncut forest two years ago, has visited the site on several occasions to oversee the process.
Golf course construction company Shapemasters Inc. of Southport, N.C., broke ground in July, 2007, and has spent the last 25 months turning the kudzu-covered land overlooking downtown Raleigh into an environmentally friendly, Audubon-approved course that Poole believes will be a city landmark before long.
“It is a classy and unique golf course, carved out of 200 acres of untouched land,” Poole said. “The thing I really like about it is if you hit a ball out of the fairway, it doesn’t land in someone’s backyard. Most of the golf course is still wilderness, right in the shadow of downtown Raleigh.”
Poole, the founder and president of Waste Industries Inc., had some frank questions when he first talked to then-Chancellor James L. Oblinger about securing the naming rights for the $11.6 million course. He knew, like the company he founded nearly 40 years ago, the course would be a legacy, something that would carry his name in perpetuity.
“The pride thing is something that was very important to me,” Poole said. “I had played some public courses before that were very well taken care of. I didn’t want to be involved in something that was just hand-to-mouth or underfunded. I wanted it to be something that we can be proud of, or I didn’t want my name on it.”
After watching construction for two years and playing the par-71, 7,358-yard course for the first time 10 days ago, Poole is convinced that it is no run-of-the-mill municipal course. The front nine is carved out of a mix of hardwoods and evergreens, while the back nine has a Scottish links feel, thanks to Palmer’s liberal use of native grasses and uncut bunkers. Raleigh’s growing skyline is visible from almost every hole on the back nine.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the way it turned out,” said Poole, who graduated from NC State with a degree in civil engineering. “I couldn’t be more pleased with everybody out there. The staff has worked really, really hard to get it opened and it is obvious that they know what they are doing.
“I can’t think of anything at the university I would rather have my name on.”
Poole actually made the $3 million donation in 1997, in the form of an undesignated remainder trust that matured after 12 years. After seeing plans, it was an easy decision for Poole to designate his donation for the golf course.
And it has been much appreciated for the university community, which has long desired a signature golf course.
“People who don’t even know me come up and thank me for it,” Poole said.
Many others have also donated money for the naming rights of all 18 holes and other amenities at the course. The university is looking for a donor to secure the rights for both the proposed clubhouse and teaching center on the course.
“Now that the golf course is built, I believe the money for the clubhouse and the teaching center will be easier to come by,” Poole said.
Today’s events are by invitation only, but Palmer will return in two weeks for the Jimmy V Classic, the celebrity golf tournament named for former NC State basketball coach Jim Valvano. The golf portion of the premier three-day fundraising weekend will make its debut at the LPGC on Aug. 16.
Palmer will sign autographs and be available to the public at that time.
For more information, including greens fees and rates, go to www.lonniepoolegolfcourse.com.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
