Maniac Hill

Two weeks after landing in Pinehurst, North Carolina, I found myself gainfully employed by Pinehurst Resort and Country Club as a part-time Driving Range Attendant at historic Maniac Hill.  Maniac Hill, America’s first driving range, was founded in 1913 by Donald Ross for the sole purpose of practicing golf, replacing centuries-old Scottish playing lessons. An estimated ten-million golf balls are struck annually at Maniac Hill! 

Maniac Hill Landmark:

The Pinehurst practice range was built in 1913 and dubbed “Maniac Hill” – one assumes in honor of all the golf nuts who attempted to learn the game here.  “Maniac Hill is to golf what Kitty Hawk is to flying.” Tommy Armour once said of the practice tee upon which early pros would congregate to discuss the infant business of golf instruction.  “The North and South Open* was the Oxford and Cambridge, the Yale, Harvard and Princeton of advanced golf education.  I paid a lot of tuition there, but every cent I lost was a good investment.”

 *The North and South Open, played at the Pinehurst Resort, was one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the United States; played between 1902 and 1951

Maniac Hill is a fourteen-acre facility which encompasses the Donald Padgett Learning Center, Pinehurst Golf Academy and two distinct driving range areas. The top range area, with forty stations, is designated primarily for Pinehurst Resort Guests, while the bottom range area, with fifteen stations, is designated for Pinehurst County Club Members.  Each hitting station is equipped with a large black plastic basket containing 300 golf balls.  There is no additional fee to access the driving range, range balls are free and you may hit balls until your heart’s content.

Twelve maniacs (two full-time and ten part-time) are responsible for the day-to-day operation of Maniac Hill.  The cast of characters include, but are not limited to, a retired restauranteur/chef, a retired Army First Sergeant serving as a SAPPER (combat engineer) with three Bronze Stars, a retired Army Staff Sergeant who served as a Kennel Master, a retired VP of Operations for a pharmaceutical company and a retired professional hockey player.

The responsibilities of a professional Range Attendant include the engagement of our discerning clientele, continuously picking golf balls off the range, washing soiled golf balls with the Range Servant RS-38K, collecting errant/broken tees, maintaining the pristine appearance of the teeing area, collecting trash throughout the property, hand raking thousands of golf balls out of the numerous large bunkers at the end of the day, and never, ever, allowing even one large black basket of balls to run dry!

This is all a bit ironic as I am known by my playing compadres as a bit of a “range hound” which is loosely defined as one who would rather hit balls on the driving range than play. Undoubtedly, the range ball count will rise incrementally in the weeks, months and years to come!

“At the end of the day, all we do is pick up golf balls.” – Chef Jeff Holzerland (full-time Driving Range Attendant)

Note:  We inadvertently and inexplicably omitted our Homosassa friends (The Burton’s) from our previous post (Pinehurst, NC), for which we sincerely apologize. Talk about finding new ways to diminish relationships!

Thank you for following Bad Golf Guy!

The back nine can only get better!