Below is a photo of good friend of mine and long time Superintendent in the Southeast, Palmer Maples. I first met Palmer at Augusta National GC during the year I spent working there. He visited often and helped out during the 2000 Masters Tournament. He has North Carolina roots and through my service to the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association (CGCSA), I was fortunate to get to know Palmer even better. He is now in his 90's and no longer traveling to conferences like he once did. He is wonderful man and has so many interesting stories.
Donald Ross was very close with the Maples family. This is a family who has played a huge part in golf in America since the early 1900's. When I had dinner with Palmer two years ago at Donald Ross' Dunes Club, we talked about Highlands CC at length. In short, he told me specifically about remembering his Uncle Frank telling him about making numerous trips to Highlands back in the late 1920's and early 1930's, during the construction of your golf course.
Just the other day, Green Committee Chairman, Clay Jackson, sent me these two pages from the book, The Life and Times of Donald Ross, by Chris Buie. I was really excited to see this story about Uncle Frank, published. If you click on each image below, you should be able to enlarge them and be able to read the passages from the book. Enjoy!
