Triangle retirees can hit the links year-round, enjoy many other amenities

June 27, 2008 : Chapel Hill, NC

With its beautiful scenery, proximity to major universities and availability of a wide range of entertainment, Chapel Hill has long been known as a great place to retire. A recent article in Business Week has now reinforced the area’s reputation by recognizing it as a great place for retirees who enjoy hitting the links.

In the magazine’s recent Retirement Guide, sports geographer John Rooney Jr. lists Chapel Hill as maybe the top year-round place in the country to “live and tee off,” citing the great restaurants, big-time college sports and cultural events as added features that enhance the quality of life (yes, there is something besides golf). For golfers, he suggests using Chapel Hill as home base – joining a club or playing at the many upscale public courses, making day trips to play the famed courses in Pinehurst and enjoying overnight trips to play the many courses along the coast of the Carolinas and Georgia and in the mountains.

Pinehurst – with more than 35 championship courses, some of which are among the world’s most highly rated and home to major golf tournaments – is known as a golfing mecca. But for those who prefer staying closer to home, the Triangle area boasts about 50 courses of its own.

Owners at The Cedars of Chapel Hill have the luxury of living close to several outstanding courses, UNC’s Finley and Duke University (both public) and Old Chatham, Chapel Hill Country Club, Hope Valley and Governors Club (all private), to name a few.

Cedars owner Paul Rizzo has lived in the Triangle since 1987 and plays several of these courses on a regular basis.

“I think it’s a great area,” he said. “I think it’s one of the best areas that has diverse entertainment and culture, as well as golf.”

Johnny Cake, director of golf at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said Finley is open to the public and features a special rate for Members of the Rams Club, UNC’s athletics booster group, and the General Alumni Association. These discounts allow many seniors to play for a reduced rate.

In addition, he said Finley was built to accommodate many types of players.

“When the course was recently completely redesigned by Tom Fazio, seniors were kept in mind,” Cake said. He said that some older courses did not initially have seniors’ tees. When they were added later, the landing areas from the senior tees often were quite long and difficult for seniors to play, a challenge Fazio kept in mind.

“We can play a ladies’ or seniors’ tournament one day and the next day we can have a college event here, basically making no changes to the course, which is pretty special,” Cake said.

“Our greens are on the large side, so that we have ample flagstick locations,” he added. “The greens are not undulated severely so that people can enjoy the round.”

Cake was formerly Director of Golf at Duke University’s course and speaks highly of that course as well. It was renovated within the last five years and is a Reese Jones course that is an excellent test of golf.

Cake said when he moved to the area in 1970 there were only about 10 courses in the immediate area, and now there are about 50.

“We’ve grown by leaps and bounds,” he said.

Private clubs near The Cedars include The Chapel Hill Country Club, which was completely renovated about four years ago, Old Chatham, another Reese Jones course which is less than two years old and is recognized as one of the best courses in the state, and Governors Club, designed by Jack Nicklaus.

“This is pretty special that in this area you have so many golf courses and so many different types of architects, which gives you a lot of diversity in courses to play,” he said.

The climate also works to golfers’ benefit, Cake said.

“All the golf courses in this area are open basically year-round,” he said. “Finley is closed one day a year, on Christmas. You have your bad days when you might have some snow or a little ice storm, but the norm is that it gets out of here in three or four days and you’re back open again and playing.”

Ericka McCaw, Membership marketing director for Governors Club south of Chapel Hill, agreed that North Carolina’s mild, four-season climate allows for year-round golf, and she said the natural landscapes – such as Governors Club’s rolling topography – provide both beautiful and challenging courses.

“Golf also flourishes in North Carolina because of geographic conveniences and proximity,” McCaw said. “For the avid golfer, North Carolina provides terrific access for day and overnight trips to play hundreds of courses in North Carolina and along the South Carolina and Georgia seaboards.”

She said Governors Club is unique in its topography because the community and the course are located on Edwards Mountain, with greens following the mountain’s contours to provide challenging golf for the experienced player and a relaxing outing for players who want a less-demanding game.

The Signature Course skirts serene lakes and quiet woodlands and winds through the Governors Club community, McCaw said. Each hole has five sets of tees so that as players’ games improve they can challenge themselves further. Elevation changes create dramatic shot values and panoramic views, and native rock outcroppings enhance the beauty and unique character of the course.

So, if you want to retire and play golf on scenic and challenging, or not-so-challenging, courses while having access to all the other things that make for an outstanding quality of life, Chapel Hill is your place. Retiring in Chapel Hill is like getting a double eagle on the number one handicap hole while Tiger is getting a double bogey.

As we say at The Cedars of Chapel Hill, “Life has been good to you. At The Cedars it gets even better.”