Chip was born in Fayetteville , NCin 1956. Following an outstanding high school career at Terry Sanford in Fayetteville , he attended the University of Georgiawhere he was a three-time All-American. He was named the school’s Athlete of the Year as a senior.

Beck won four times on the PGA Tour — 1988 Los Angeles Open and USF&G Classic, 1990 Buick Open, 1992 Freeport-McMoRan Classic — and was runner-up in 20 other events. He was tied for second in the 1986 and 1989 U.S. Opens and was runner-up to Bernhard Langer in the 1993 Masters. He was named to three Ryder Cup Teams (1989-91-93) and played a key role in the U.S.win at Kiawah in 1991’s “War by the Shore.”

Beck became the second player on the PGA Tour to shoot 59 when he accomplished that feat at the Sunrise Golf Club in the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational in a round where he had five pars and 13 birdies, including a three-footer on the final hole. He also became the first player to score a hole-in-one on a par-4 on the Nationwide Tour in the 2003 Omaha Classic. It was only the second par-4 ace scored under the PGA Tour umbrella.

Beck won the Vardon Trophy for low stroke average on the PGA Tour in 1988. He had career earnings of $6,841,741 on the Tour. Today he lives in Chicago , Ill., with his wife Karen, and has played on the Champions Tour since turning 50 in 2006.

Chip Beck was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 2008.

Born and raised in Charlotte, Charlie Sifford was the first African-American ever to play on the PGA Tour and became the first black to win a Tour event when a closing-round 64 propelled him to first place in the 1967 Greater Hartford Open.  He also won the 1969 Los Angeles Open and took the 1980 Suntree Classic on the Senior PGA Tour.  Other victories came in the 1975 PGA Seniors’ Championship, the 1957 Long Beach Open and the 1971 Sea Pines Open on the so-called “second” tour.

A long-time caddie at Charlotte Country Club and Myers Park Country Club, Sifford eventually decided he wanted to play golf for a living and turned pro in 1948 (although he didn’t join the PGA Tour until 1960 at age 36).  He quietly endured taunts and insults for more than a decade before becoming the first black to play in a Tour event the 1961 Greater Greensboro Open, where he eventually finished fourth. Breaking the color barrier and playing well at Greensboro didn’t end his race-related problems, however.  He wasn’t allowed to play at some tour stops and wasn’t allowed to use the locker room at some of the places that let him play.  The galleries weren’t always kind to him either. “I’ve had some hard days and some good ones, but if I had it to do over, I’d do the same thing,” Sifford said at his induction ceremony.  “I love the game and the world knows what I did.  I feel good about myself.”

He was inducted in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.

Charlie Sifford was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1985.

Clarence Rose, a native and current resident of Goldsboro, is a winner on the PGA Tour, highlighted by his victory at the 1996 Sprint International. Along with the late Dana Rader, a native of Morganton and the founder of the Dana Rader Golf School at Ballantyne, Rose was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame, which is managed by the Carolinas Golf Association.

One of the most feared competitors on the professional golf tour in the 1940's and ‘50's, Heafner gained a reputation for unpredictability and was once described as the angriest man in golf.

Before his death in 1961 at age 47, Heafner bought and operated the Eastwood Golf Club in his native city Charlotte.  When his wife died a year later, Eastwood was left in trust for his three children.  One of his sons, Mike, operates the club and another son, Vance, followed his father to the PGA Tour for a brief stint.

Among Heafner’s notable tour victories was the Mohoning Valley Open in 1941 and 1942, the Jacksonville (Fla.) Open in 1947, and the Colonial Invitation in 1948.  Locally, he won the Carolinas Open in 1939 and 1953 and the Carolinas PGA Section title in 1950.  He was twice runner-up in the US Open and first came to public eye in the Open of 1939 at Medinah. He shot a third round 66, the lowest round of that championship.  It raised him into a tie for second place, but his last round of 80 dropped him out of contention.  Two years later he was tied with Ben Hogan with one round to play but Hogan returned an unanswerable 67 and won by 2 stokes.

Heafner played in two Ryder Cup matches and was unbeaten in four matches.  In 1951 at Pinehurst he halved with Fred Daly.  In that match he was laid a stymie by the Irishman, believed to be the last stymie on record.  the stymie was abolished six weeks later.  He played in nine Masters Tournaments with his best finish in 1946 when he took seventh.

Clayton Heafner was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1982.

Cliff Cunningham was first an electronic technician for AT&T and, second, a good local golfer through most of his amateur days in the Charlotte area.

Cunningham began playing in state senior events when he became eligible in 1990.  His golf resume did not sizzle until 1997, when he won the USGA Senior Amateur championship at the Atlantic Golf Club in Bridgehampton, N.Y.  His senior career popped when he won his first North Carolina Senior Amateur championship in 1994.

But for four years, Cunningham wondered if he had the talent to play senior golf at the state level.  He resolved those doubts by beating a solid field in the North Carolina Senior at Rolling Hills Country Club near his home in Monroe, N.C.  He followed that a year later with a playoff victory in the same event, again at Rolling Hills.  He shrugged off being labeled a one-course victor by winning the title again in 1996 at Wilson Country Club, again in a playoff.  He followed with titles in 2001 and 2002 at Starmount Forest Country Club in Greensboro and at Raintree Country Club in Charlotte.

His USGA experience was unique.  At that time, he had won four state crowns; and he went to New York playing well.  He had failed to qualify for match play in two previous USGA Seniors, and that became his goal in 1997.  “I thought I might even win a match or two,” he recalled.  “But I liked the course, and my putting was the best in had been in some time.  The longer I played, the better I played.”  Cunningham needed two extra holes to win his quarterfinal match, even though he was three holes up with only four to play.  He was under par in his semifinal 5 and 3 victory, and his final-match margin also was 5 and 3.

Cunningham is part owner of Eagle Chase Golf Club in Marshville, NC.

Cliff Cunningham was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 2002.

Clyde Mangum played a lot of golf during his years in Pinehurst.  And, while he won a couple of titles, he wasn’t really a championship caliber player. As an administrator, however, he was one of the best.  He started his golf career when P.J. Boatwright Jr. gave up his post as executive director of the Carolinas Golf Association.  Asked by Richard Tufts why he wanted the job, Mangum replied, “I simply have a real love for the game of golf.”

Mangum worked for the CGA from 1959 to 1965 and served as general manager of Pinehurst Country Club golf properties from 1956 until 1971.  That year, he joined the PGA Tour staff as Deputy Commissioner of Operations and held that position until he retired in 1985. In his post with the PGA Tour, Mangum was responsible for all tournament operations, the employment of the tournament staff and supervised the headquarters’ tournament administration department. 

He served on the USGA Rules Committee for ten years and as a rules committeeman during the Masters for several years. As a competitor, he won the 1970 Carolinas Father-Son with Clyde III and took the 1962 Dunes International Four-Ball title.

Clyde Mangum was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1987.

One of the country’s leading amateurs for almost three decades, Dale Morey was born in Martinsville, Ind., where he was a high school basketball star in the late 1930's.  He moved to North Carolina over 20 years ago at the urging of his friend and fellow Carolinas Hall of Famer, Billy Joe Patton.

At Louisiana State University, he was on a basketball scholarship and played on NCAA championship golf teams with such notables as Jay and Lionel Hebert, Gardner Dickinson, Johnny Pott, and Earl Stewart. 

He was unbeaten in match play in both high school and college.  After graduation, Morey played pro basketball briefly with the Anderson Packers (Anderson, Ind.) and then served as a golf pro in St. Louis and Louisville before regaining his amateur status.  His best tour finish was 4th at Montgomery, Ala. He has won most of the country’s amateur and senior amateur events among his over 200 tournament victories. 

His list of wins includes state championships in 4 states (North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky and Texas), two Southern Amateur crowns, a Western Amateur, The North and South, The Mid Atlantic Amateur, four Indiana Opens, two NC Amateurs, a Carolinas Amateur, an NC Open and 14 major senior championships.

Although he never won the US Amateur, he did reach the finals in 1953 and birdied the 34th and 35th holes at Oklahoma City to bring Gene Littler back to all square.  However, Littler’s birdie on the last hole cost Morey the championship.  Morey also reached the quarterfinals in 1954 and 1964, ten years apart! Dale played on two Walker Cup Teams, two Americas Cup Teams and a World Amateur Team. 

He was voted into The Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1982. As a competitor, he won the 1974 Carolinas Father-Son with Doug and took the 1962 Dunes International Four-Ball title.

Dan Brooks, 61, heads into his 36th season as the head coach of the Duke women’s golf team after capturing a remarkable seven national titles with the Blue Devils in the last 21 seasons. In addition to the exceptional national titles, Brooks lead the Blue Devils to 20 career Atlantic Coast Conference championships and 136 team wins – the most of any women’s golf coach in NCAA Division I history.

Brooks, a former star golfer at Oregon State and a self-proclaimed West Coast guy, flew to the East Coast in the mid-1980s, and was hired to lead the Duke women’s golf team, along with assistant coaching duties with Myers on the men’s side. The two golf coaches also ran the golf course operations.

Brooks wasn’t sure he could coach, or become a good teacher for that matter, saying he “hedged his bets” by taking the coaching job. However, he has since proved otherwise, having been named national coach of the year seven times while leading the Blue Devils to 17 top-five national finishes.

Brooks joins the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame 2020 class alongside Dorathy Dotger Thigpen. Together they highlight some of the most outstanding accomplishments women’s golf has ever seen across the area.

Dan was born in Pinehurst, North Carolina in 1947 into a family whose roots in golf course construction reach back into the 19th Century. The Maples family, since Dan’s great-grandfather James, has been involved with golf either as professionals, superintendents, builders or architects.

See the Maples Family Tree for details. At the age of six, Dan designed his first golf course and was handling earth moving equipment before he had his driver's license. During summer vacations Dan worked for his father gaining valuable experience in golf course construction and maintenance.

After receiving a Bachelor's Degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia in 1972, he worked as a club pro for two years. In 1974 Dan joined the firm of his father, Ellis, as a full partner. Together, the team of Ellis and Dan Maples helped create 17 superb courses including Grandfather Mountain in Linville, NC, and the Country Club of North Carolina Dogwood Course in Pinehurst. Since forming Dan Maples Design, Inc. in 1984, Dan has gone on to become one of the most successful golf course designers in America.

His impressive list of courses includes many of America's finest. Dan is a past president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. "When you are building a golf course, you have to please three different groups of people; pros, superintendents and owners. Having experience as all three gives me an edge because I know what each is looking for."

Dana Rader was one of the most respected and influential golf instructors in the game, known nationally for her ability to connect with players and elevate their performance. A native of Morganton, North Carolina, Rader began her teaching career in 1980 and earned LPGA Class A status in 1984. She founded the Dana Rader Golf School in 1987, building a nationally recognized program that operated for many years at Ballantyne in Charlotte and later along the South Carolina coast.

Over a four-decade career, Rader earned widespread acclaim, including LPGA National Teacher of the Year (1990), induction into the LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals Hall of Fame (2017), the Ellen Griffin Award, the Nancy Lopez Golf Achievement Award, and recognition as one of Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Teachers in America. Celebrated for her passion, honesty, and individualized approach to instruction, Rader left a lasting impact on the business of golf and the thousands of players she taught. She was inducted posthumously into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame following her passing in 2022.

David  Eger’s induction into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame is a testament to  his exceptional contributions both as a player and an administrator.

David Strawn is one of the most accomplished amateur golfers in the Carolinas, with a competitive résumé that spans decades at the national and regional levels. He reached the final of the 1973 U.S. Amateur, finishing runner-up to future Masters champion Craig Stadler, and competed in eight U.S. Mid-Amateurs and 14 Carolinas-Virginias Team Matches. A longtime member at Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte, Strawn won a club-record 11 club championships along with five senior titles.

Raised next to his father’s driving range, Strawn began playing golf at age six and entered his first tournament at 11. He played college golf at Furman University, where he was a two-time Southern Conference champion. From 1973–74, he posted a remarkable run that included runner-up finishes at the U.S. Amateur, Eastern Amateur, and Carolinas Open, a victory at the Sunnehanna Amateur, and appearances in both The Masters and the U.S. Open. After turning professional in 1974 and competing internationally, Strawn regained his amateur status in 1986. He later returned to elite amateur competition, reaching the semifinals of the 1993 U.S. Mid-Amateur and winning the North Carolina Senior Four-Ball Championship four times, each with a different partner.