Angel Oak CC, so named for the centuries old tree guarding the clubhouse, practically invented the club tournament in the U.S. back in the day when the 2- woods were persimmon and the golf bags leather. The cars were black and the golfers white.
The year in the club archives is a matter of some dispute but most old timers agree it was somewhere around 1924 or 1925. Bobby Jones was the reigning US Open champion, Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs fueled on hot dogs and lager…and Angel Oak was planning a party…a big one.
Proibition, although in full swing, was only a slight annoyance at A.O.C.C. You see the reigning club champion, Andrews B. Pine III, known to his friends as “Big Pine”, was an excellent engineer by day, but his skills as an amateur bootlegger were legendary in the Lowcountry.
It’s said that a still in the back of Big Pine’s law office produced the see-through liquid. But, when mixed with Miss Cheryl Pine’s fresh lemonade, created a concoction which all remembered…at least the first one but rarely the second. Many an Angel Oak celebration was fueled by Miss Cheryl’s lemonade, and more than one ended in song.
Big Pine, so named for the sheer size of the man, in addition to an unfortunate incident out on Old Route 17 involving his brand new Nash Rambler and a 60-foot Loblolly, was a natural at golf. It was reported that after bogeying the first nine holes of the final match against highly skilled and short game master Tad L. Pole, one gulp of Miss Cheryl’s lemonade at the turn and Big Pine finished off his victim with nine straight threes and a 10th club championship.
Tad complained briefly to the tournament committee but pretty soon all were sipping the pink mixture, and singing a song of appreciation to the champion.
Fast forward to the current day and not a lot has changed. Head Pro Spike Lemon is busy finishing up the preperations for the ultimate event at the club…the The Blue and The Grey.
…To be continued
Very cool. Did I miss Chapter One?
Rick,
After reading the August 22, 1925 article about the match in the Post and Scurry in the on-line archives. It appears you may have been given incorrect(it wasn’t your fault, you did everything right) information. According to the article the match is in dispute. Even to this day. It seems there was a rules infraction on the part of Big Pine the article states that Big Pine had 20 clubs in his bag. But, he was so big no one noticed that he was carrying around such a big load. When Tad asked the offical walking with the group to count Big Pine’s clubs he would not do it…said he was afraid of the Pine….Tad was furious with the offical and counted the clubs himself. Big Pine refused to take the extra clubs of the bag. Tad claimed Big Pine should have been disqualified under rule 4-4a . He claimed victory as did Big Pine. The Club canceled the awards ceremony that night and never gave out the medal.
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