Elizabeth City Golfers Convene at The Pines
The Pines at Elizabeth City offers enough challenges to get any players’ competitive juices flowing – and that’s exactly what owner Bill Taylor had in mind.
Taylor‚ a longtime golfer‚ had always believed The Pines wasn’t meeting its full potential. He purchased The Pines in 2004 from the club membership and changed its name from Pine Lakes Country Club to The Pines at Elizabeth City.
The restoration process began by hiring golf course architect Tom Clark of Ault‚ Clark and Associates. Clark’s aim was to achieve a Pinehurst feel and make the course the gem of northeastern North Carolina.
He began by removing about 700 trees and adding three lakes to the existing two. All greens and bunkers were rebuilt to U.S. Golf Association specifications and eight-foot-wide cart paths were installed throughout the original Fred Finlay design.
Sand bunkers are new‚ and practice facilities have also been renovated to include new target greens‚ fairways‚ chipping areas and a putting green. Greens feature bent grass‚ while tees and fairways feature a new hybrid of Bermuda grass that is more heat-resistant.
The par-72 course has five sets of tees that play from 5‚101 yards to 7‚017 yards. Holes 9 and 18 both converge at the clubhouse.
“It’s exciting to see The Pines reach its true potential‚” Taylor says. “I have loved this club and this area for so long‚ and I am delighted to be part of such a tremendous improvement for the club and Elizabeth City.”
Head golf professional David Mascitti came to The Pines in October of 2005‚ just before the club opened at Thanksgiving of that year.
Heritage Creations of Bend‚ Ore.‚ was brought in to make a complete renovation of the pro shop. A new contemporary pool opened in 2007.
The Pines also added upscale restaurant Bistro at The Pines, a four-star rated establishment owned by Omar Boukhriss‚ who is known for his work at Voila and Omar’s Carriage House in Norfolk.
This semi-private golf club offers golf and social memberships‚ as well as daily fee and outing play. The non-resident weekend and holiday rate for play on the course is $79 including a cart. Weekday rate for non-residents is $69. Tee times begin at 7:30 a.m. weekdays and weekends.
