Hall of Fame: Winston Lake course honored

Winston Lake Golf Course has picked up an honor that, according to Lester Carpenter, was long overdue.

The course will be inducted into the National Black Golf Hall of Fame in the special category of organizations and locations.

Carpenter, 70, who works part time in the pro shop, has been playing at the Ellis Maples design for the last 40 years.

"There's a lot of history here, and a lot of players that have come and gone through this place," Carpenter said. "I think this is a great honor."

The National Black Golf Hall of Fame, which is based in Tampa, Fla., was founded many years ago by the late Harold Dunovant, who used to give lessons for many years at Winston Lake. It was also there that the Harold Dunovant Pro-Am was held and where he first originated the hall of fame.

Dunovant died in 2002.

The hall of fame was founded in 1986 by Dunovant, and its purpose was to "recognize and honor the contributions of black golfers for their skills, and to honor persons who have done the most to promote golf in the black communities."

Winston Lake, which first opened in 1956, has played host to many Forsyth Invitationals through the years. The final round of this year's Forsyth Invitational will be at Winston Lake on Aug. 8.

Tim Grant, the director of the city's Recreation & Parks Department, received the official letter about the induction last week.

"We were surprised, but we were excited about being inducted into the National Black Golf Hall of Fame," Grant said. "For this honor to come to a course that was started in the city and built for city residents means a lot."

Grant said that there have been so many people responsible for making Winston Lake a success through the years. "A lot of the older guys have been playing out there for so long," he said. "And I think that's the essence of the place because of its history. This is a terrific honor."

In the letter that Grant received, Jeff Dunovant, who is the executive director of the hall of fame and has carried on the vision started by his father Harold, said that Winston Lake was well-deserving of this honor.

The Harold Dunovant Pro-Am in Tampa will be held in March to coincide with the induction ceremony.

"The tournament and induction is part of a vision by my father to build a hall of fame honoring contributions by African-Americans and others over the past 100 years to the game of golf," Jeff Dunovant wrote in the letter.

This year's tournament will be at Rogers Park Golf Course in Tampa and will feature Jim Dent, who is a hall of fame member and will be the honorary chairman.

Grant said that at some point after Winston Lake is inducted the course will recognize the honor.

"We will want people to know about this so we'll definitely put something up around the clubhouse," Grant said.

Joines to speak at First Tee

Allen Joines, the mayor of Winston-Salem, will be the main speaker at The First Tee of the Triad meeting on Feb. 8 at 6 p.m. at the Rupert Bell Recreation Center.

The First Tee of the Triad, which teaches youth about golf and life lessons, is open for anybody ages 8 to 18 living in Winston-Salem or Greensboro.

Joines will speak about one or more of the nine core values that The First Tee teaches.

For more information call 602-1305 or go to www.thefirstteetriad.org.

Around the green

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While Bill Haas, a former star at Wake Forest, won his first PGA Tour tournament at the Bob Hope in his 141st start, Tim Clark, a former N.C. State star, finished a disappointing second. In 197 career starts on the PGA Tour Clark has yet to win. He has eight runner-up finishes. However, he might be one to watch at the Masters in April because he's had some great finishes there. He's too good to have not yet won on the PGA Tour….

Haas made sure to give credit to his uncle, Jerry Haas, who coaches the Wake Forest golf team, for his development. Bill graduated in 2004 after four years on the Deacons' golf team. He still wears a large Deacons logo on his golf bag. "I want little kids who see the logo to maybe think that one day if they become good golfers they will want to go play for my uncle at Wake Forest," Haas said. "I know it was the best place for me to go as my game developed."

jdell@wsjournal.com


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