Paradise in the Pines

Jaime Diaz has spent 40 years documenting happenings in the world of golf. The respect among his peers and a long list of career accolades are many. Diaz is a nine-time Golf Writers Association of America award-winner; earned the PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism in 2012; and was recognized by Jack Nicklaus as the recipient of the Memorial Golf Journalism Award. He spent time in his career as a golf writer or editor for the New York Times, Golf Illustrated, Golf World, and Golf Digest. Since 2018, Diaz has appeared regularly on Golf Channel as an in-studio analyst and on Golf Central’s Live From broadcasts at major golf tournaments and events. Originally from San Francisco, Diaz has called Moore County home for 17 years, but this is his first appearance on the Paradise in the Pines podcast. Listen as Diaz talks about the state of the game, LIV Golf vs. the PGA TOUR, his love of Pinehurst and what he really thinks about Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee…

Eric Kuester started his career at Pinehurst Resort as a front desk agent. Fast forward 20 years and Kuester is now on the front lines of one of America’s greatest golf resorts poised to host the 2024 U.S. Open, its first such championship in 10 years. Since the Resort hosted its first U.S. Open in 1999, capped off with one of the most memorable moments in golf history as Payne Stewart made an iconic putt to win the championship, Pinehurst has been continually adding to its lore. In recent years, the Resort has added new amenities on and off the course, will soon welcome the USGA’s Golf House Pinehurst, the return of the World Golf Hall of Fame, a new course at Pinehurst No. 10, and so much more. Kuester took some time to enter the Paradise in the Pines podcast to tell us more about what we know is coming from Pinehurst and what is to come.

For nearly 10 years, Linda Parsons has served as the President and CEO of the Moore County Chamber of Commerce. During her tenure, Parsons has witnessed the growth of the Moore County business community, seen it more recently impacted by the COVID pandemic, and now emerging as one of the leading areas in North Carolina for growth and a positive business climate. In this episode of Paradise in the Pines, listen as Linda Parsons talks about the Moore County business community and what she sees on the horizon at the Chamber of Commerce.

We hope you have been enjoying our bi-monthly podcast, Paradise in the Pines. The podcast is all about the people, places and stories that make us the Home of American Golf. This time, the podcast offers a unique twist. In a somewhat hostile takeover, we’re giving our boss a break and taking over the airwaves! In this episode, listen as CVB staffers Dan Dreyer, Ashley Baker and Melissa Holt talk about everything they love about travel, the destination, what they do for the CVB and their favorite recommendations in Moore County. They do it all and never even talk about golf! As you know, we may be golf here, but we are also so much Moore!

From a humble upbringing in Raeford, North Carolina, Sally Austin is recognized inside the Home of American Golf and beyond as a champion and trailblazer for women's golf. Austin's love for the game was instilled by her father and she honed her skills under the tutelage of the legendary Peggy Kirk Bell at Pine Needles, where she still teaches the game today. A faithful and diehard North Carolina Tarheels fan, Sally was part of the first women's varsity golf team at UNC Chapel Hill in 1974 and later became their head coach during the 1992-93 season and directed the program for 16 years. Austin lives in Pinehurst and when not teaching or enjoying all the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen area has to offer, she also serves on the prestigious N.C. Golf Panel traveling the state to rank the Top 100 golf courses from the mountains to the coast. In July, Austin won the super senior division of LPGA Professionals National Championship at Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, VA. Sit back and enjoy this episode of Paradise in the Pines with Sally Austin. For more podcasts, go to www.HomeofGolf.com/podcast/

Natalie Hawkins has been leading the charge for Moore County's economic development for over two years. As president of the Moore County Economic Development Partnership (formerly Partners in Progress), she and her team are constantly seeking new business opportunities and enhancing current ones to define the future of the area. To accomplish these goals, Hawkins is constantly speaking and negotiating with elected officials and community leaders to find common interests and solutions for issues and create future opportunities for businesses attracted to Moore County. In her spare time, Hawkins loves to travel, experience new culinary adventures, and get in a little golf from time to time. Check out this Paradise in the Pines episode and learn more about the future vision for the Home of American Golf. #moorecountync #visitnc

Joshua Peyton is a purpose-driven person. As president of the Veteran Golfers Association (VGA) which he founded in Pinehurst in 2014, and as an Army veteran, served 20 years at Fort Bragg as part of the 82nd Airborne division. The VGA is a national non-profit organization that offers military veterans the opportunity to enjoy competition and community through golf. VGA membership is open to all U.S. veterans – wounded, non-wounded, disabled, active duty and retired – as well as to their families, including parents, siblings and dependents who are at least 18 years old. There are more than 17,000 members nationwide. Each year, the VGA hosts hundreds of golf tournaments all over the country, culminating with a national championship event. In the podcast, Peyton talks about the VGA, his own golf game and his love for the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen area of North Carolina.

The fourth annual Painted Ponies Art Walk is a sure sign of spring in the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area of North Carolina. More than a dozen beautifully painted ponies line the streets of downtown Southern Pines along Broad Street between February to early April in celebration of the deep equestrian culture in the Sandhills. The Painted Ponies are a public art display that benefits the Carolina Horse Park Foundation. The CVB is a proud sponsor of two ponies. Bryan Rosenburg, chairman of the board at CHP recently joined the Paradise in the Pines podcast to talk about the Painted Ponies, his lifelong love for the equestrian lifestyle and what's happening at the Carolina Horse Park this year. #visitnc #sandhillsequine #paintedponies

If you haven't been to Red's Corner in Southern Pines, what are you waiting for? North Carolina's first and only permanent food truck and beer pavilion is the hottest place to be and be seen in Moore County. The vision for Red's Corner comes from owner, Rachel Jurgens who is from Bend, Oregon where food trucks have been prevelent for years, so she wanted to create the same vibe here. After three years of painstakingly pursuing the dream of what would become Red's Corner, it has become a reality and the facility celebrated its one-year anniversary on March 17, 2023. Jurgens visited our Paradise in the Pines podcast to talk about what's happening at Red's Corner, the person who inspired the name, her love of horses and her equestrian background and why a west coaster like her now calls the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen area home.

Kevin Drum is someone you should meet. Better yet, sit at the bar in the establishment he owns, the Drum & Quill, and enjoy a long conversation with a guy who loves Pinehurst almost more than life itself. Business owner, marketer, storyteller, and more, Kevin is passionate about life, golf, a good cocktail, and life in Pinehurst.  Kevin's dad was Bob Drum, whose work with CBS Sports golf coverage as a golf writer is legendary. The Drum & Quill is a tribute to his dad, his namesake, and the pen Bob used to craft his Hall of Fame-worthy columns for decades. Listen as Kevin talks about his passion for Pinehurst, his father's long-time friendship with the "King" Arnold Palmer, and his passion for golf and life inside the Home of American Golf.  Drum is a former Village of Pinehurst council member and owns a prolific marketing firm.  #pinehurst #southernpines #aberdeennc #visitnc #northcarolina #homeofamericangolf #sandhills #moorecountync

The brainchild of Pinehurst entrepreneurs Angela Robb and Nicole Stein, the Sandhills Trolley Company has taken the Sandhills by storm. This is not your granddaddy's trolley with the boring tour guide droning on. These trolley tours are fun, interactive and the themes are seemingly endless.  From Brews Cruises to Comedy Cruises to Coffee Tours and more, Robb and Stein have found a niche and a large following of people seeking a fun and unique experience.  Sandhills Trolley Company’s mission is to provide safe, reliable, unique, and fun sightseeing and performance tours to the visitors and locals of Sandhills, North Carolina using antique-style open-air and enclosed trolleys to help capture the history of the Moore County surrounding areas, while providing guests with a fun, interactive trolley experience. Looking for a fun night out? Sandhills Trolley Company has a variety of tours that change monthly. Learn more: www.sandhillstrolley.com.

For the first anniversary Paradise in the Pines podcast, we bring back our inaugural guest - Tom Pashley, president of Pinehurst Resort. Perfect timing, too as the Resort is still basking in the glow of the annoucement that the tenth golf course will be built. Yes, the "tenth course" not Pinehurst No. 10. Pinehurst's newest golf course will be created by venerable course architect Tom Doak and it will represent his first layout inside the Home of American Golf.  Aside from Pinehurst's tenth course, Pashley talks about things happening at the Resort, the progress being made with the USGA's Golf House Pinehurst and bacon! Yes, the bacon at Pinehurst is apparenrly the best bacon at any resort in the country. Thanks, Damon Hack from Golf Channel.  Strap in and hold on, its time for another venture into Paradise in the Pines!

Jessica Halling and her husband, Brad, are Army veterans and proud owners of what will become the newest distillery in Moore County, NC – the Brad Halling American Whiskey Ko. (BHAWK). The destination distillery is expected to open in early 2024, just in time for the U.S. Open which is set to be played at Pinehurst No. 2 in June of that year. The campus will be located off Yadkin Road in Southern Pines, very close to the intersection of Midland Rd. and Highway 1.

The Hallings began their journey to business ownership three years ago. Throughout 2020 and 2021, the two decided to divide and conquer and received both formal and informal training to learn the skills required to successfully run a distillery. Jessica attended distillery operations training and Bradley attended distillers training, including receiving an opportunity to shadow master distillers and a full distillery team.

Along with brewing up whiskey, the brand will also focus on “expressing Gratitude™ for extraordinary service by common Americans, both uniformed and private citizens.” According to the Halling’s social media, a feather will be a prominent part of the BHAWK campus design, serving as a nod to the fallen. “Our lives have been dedicated to service,” said Halling. “The BHAWK Distillery Campus in Southern Pines, NC and BHAWK’s purpose driven brands are a second calling. Our vision to honor others was clear from the start, and we just wouldn’t have it another way.”

The Hallings are part of that large Sandhills military community. Jess was a Russian linguist and interrogator during her time in the service. She retired in December 2020 with a combined reserve and active career of 29 years. Brad joined the Army in 1980 and participated in the Battle of Mogadishu (the battle that the "Black Hawk Down" book and film are based on) in 1993. During the battle, he suffered injuries when the Black Hawk helicopter he was on was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. His left leg was amputated above the knee.

#BHAWK #MooreCountyNC #SouthernPinesNC #Armyveterans

Forthcoming

Ben and Phil talk pots and Seagrove history. 

Maness has been involved with aviation his entire career: for over 10 years with the Air Force, including as a Captain for the inaugural class of the first TOPGUN training wing in California and two years as a pilot for the Air Force precision flight squadron, the Thunderbirds. Following his military career, Maness joined U.S. Airways where he served as a pilot for 22 years. Prior to accepting his current role as Director, Maness served three terms as Airport Manager in Moore County in 2004-2007, 2010-2012 and again in 2018-2020. He was instrumental in assisting the United States Golf Association with two U.S. Open Championships and coordinating the unique operations plans to handle thousands of flights that arrived and departed at the airport in 2005 and 2014. Maness will be instrumental in developing a similar plan for the 2024 U.S. Open Championship, which will be hosted at Pinehurst.

Maness’s responsibilities as Director will to manage all the operational aspects of the airport including increasing revenues, providing exceptional customer service, and ensuring customer satisfaction. Along with the members of the Airport Authority, he will oversee the short and long-term strategic plans for the facility. Maness will work with federal, state, and local agencies for grants supporting facility maintenance, growth in capacity and service, and overall improvements to the airport. He will also manage current development projects, including the base-customer hanger expansion and infrastructure projects, the conversion of all external lighting to LED and the continual enhancements to the exiting airport terminal building.

The airport hosts the annual Festival D’Avion in late October each year.

Maness is a long-time resident of Moore County and lives in Whispering Pines. He and his wife Nancy are parents to two grown children, who live in North Carolina, along with six grandchildren.

#visitnc #homeofamericangolf #moorecountyairport #festivaldavion

This will get updated 

After 33 years as president of Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst, North Carolina, Dr. John Dempsey is stepping down at the end of December 2022. Dempsey has been president of Sandhills Community College since 1989. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and holds a master’s degree in Government from the College of William and Mary and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts. He is a Vietnam veteran, and he served in the Executive Office of the President during Jimmy Carter’s Administration.

During his tenure, the college has grown dramatically and has become nationally renowned for its medical, developmental educational programs, its beautiful gardens, and the activities of its Foundation. Dempsey’s tenure at SCC exceeds his nearest fellow president by 17 years. When he arrived at SCC, the school had a $1 million endowment which now exceeds $50 million. He has overseen multiple improvements to the campus.

In this podcast, Dempsey talks about his reign at SCC, his lasting legacy, bringing the Sandhills Bogeys summer wooden bat baseball team from the Old North State League to campus and his love for the game of golf.

Christopher Prieto is a champion pitmaster and the self-proclaimed #BBQNerd. He is the headliner for the second annual Pinehurst Barbecue Festival, Sept. 2-4, 2022 in the Village of Pinehurst in North Carolina. Prieto is of Puerto Rican descent and was raised in Texas, a state synonymous with great barbecue. In recent years, Prieto and his family moved to the Raleigh suburb of Knightdale where he owns and operates the enormously popular Prime BBQ restaurant.

The Paradise in the Pines podcast recently made the journey to visit Prieto at his BBQ heaven to talk about his craft, his passion and ministry for all things barbecue, life as a Food Network star with his recurring appearances on the popular show “BBQ Brawl” and his role, along with six other pitmasters at the Pinehurst Barbecue Festival.

We can attest, we ate like kings after the show recording as all meats, sides and even the killer bread pudding was unmatched and we cannot wait to go back!

If you like beer, you'll like Gerry Bateman. If its a lager, a sour, an IPA, or a stout, he can likely tell you all about it. While he doesn't make his own beer, his business allows home brewers to give it their best shot. But, his Southern Pines Growler Company is more well-known for always having 32 different beers from all over the country on tap at all times.  

While a nice "beer snob", Bateman has lived in Moore County, NC for more than 20 years and has seen the Home of American Golf grow from a tiny destination to one of the most popular ones in the world. The question is does he play more golf, or drink more beer? We posed the question and talk about how the Pinehurst area is becoming a great beer and food destination not just one of the best places to tee it up on Earth.  

Sit back, relax, crack open a cold one and listen to the conversation.

Ashley Van Camp is a Sandhills of North Carolina original. Chef, restauranteur, owner, lover of the arts and equestrian, she is a woman with a passion for life. From North Carolina, but schooled in Boston and former resident of New York City, Van Camp's heart and soul now reside in quiet, yet purposeful fabric of the Pinehurst and Southern Pines, NC scene.

Kelly Miller had no idea what he was getting into when he married one of Peggy Kirk Bell’s daughters and moved to Southern Pines in 1982. 

“The Bell family and Pine Needles kept me in the game of golf,” Miller says. “I wanted to get into business of some kind, I wasn’t sure what.”  

Miller grew up in Indiana and attended the University of Alabama to play golf, and there he met Peggy Ann Bell, the middle child of Peggy and Warren “Bullet” Bell, the owners since 1953 of the Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club that featured a 1928 Ross course.  Since the Bells’ oldest daughter, Bonnie, was traveling the country with her husband, Pat McGowan, on the PGA Tour, and son Kirk was just entering college, it fell to Kelly and Peggy Ann to follow in the footsteps of Peggy and Bullet in running the golf course and lodge. The timing was made further prescient by the fact that Bullet was diagnosed with cancer in early 1984 that passed away that May.   

“I was an early riser—I’d get here at six in the morning and then Peggy Ann took the night shift,” Miller says. “She would work from three to 11 or whatever it took. We tried to do the same things Peg and Bullet had done for so many years—mingle with the guests, make sure they felt welcome and had a great experience.”  

Kelly eventually became general manager and along with his mother-in-law led the family and resort to taking their spot in the Sandhills and Pinehurst-area explosion of the 1990s. In 1991, Pine Needles was awarded the U.S. Women’s Open for 1996 (and it would further host the event in 2001 and 2007 with a fourth coming in 2022). The family partnered with three individuals in buying the Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club across Midland Road in 1994. Miller struck a deal in 2012 with an eager and creative golf course construction worker and aspiring architect named Kyle Franz to renovate the 1921 Mid Pines course, and that project was roundly applauded by the golf world in 2013, leading Franz to supervise similar work at Pine Needles over the following years.    

“It’s been quite a ride,” Miller says. “I’ve been here 40 years now, so it’s pretty amazing. We’ve been hosting these championships now for 25 years. Time goes quickly. But it really did start with the 1991 and ’92 Tour Championships at Pinehurst No. 2. That spawned the ’94 Senior Open, the ’99 U.S. Open and everything that’s come since. It’s hard to imagine.

Janeen Driscoll is a great friend of the Pinehurst area of North Carolina and her love for the Sandhills goes back to the last century and long before she became the director of brand communications for the United States Golf Association (USGA).   Driscoll was hired by Pinehurst Resort a couple years before the club hosted its first-ever U.S. Open in 1999. Since then, Driscoll has ascended to a prominent role with the USGA and is looking forward to Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club hosting the 2022 U.S. Women's Open from June 2-5 in Southern Pines, NC. 

The debut episode of Paradise in the Pines features Tom Pashley, president of Pinehurst Resort. In his 27 years at this iconic and globally-recognized golf resort in the heart of the Sandhills in Pinehurst, North Carolina, Pashley has seen it all. From the awarding of the 1999 U.S. Open which ultimately would showcase one of the most memorable moments in championship history - Payne Stewart's putt and fist-pump to win the title - to the naming of four more U.S. Open championships and the USGA announcing a second headquarters, Golf House Pinehurst, he has witnessed the continued growth and stature of one of America's truly great resorts. 

Pashley is passionate about his work at the Resort and, of course, golf, as well as craft beer, family and making Pinehurst fun and cool for all that visit the Home of American Golf.

Paradise in the Pines will be coming out soon.  Our first official episode will air in January.  Listen now to get an idea of what's to come in our official Paradise in the Pines Trailer.

Tom Pashley, President, Pinehurst Resort

Gerry Bateman, Owner, Southern Pines Growler Company

Janeen Driscoll, Director Brand Communications, USGA

Ashley Von Camp, Owner, Ashten's Restaurant

Kelly Miller, President, Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club and Southern Pines Golf Club