1952 to 1962 - The Early Years

The Oakwoods Country Club story is one of a small town golf club, passion for golf, community activism, and painstaking construction in the beautiful North Carolina foothills. As Herb Graffis, the editor of Chicago-based Golfdom -The Business Journal of Golf said in his October 1957 article, “It’s a model worth studying, and an excellent case history in the organization, financing, and construction of a golf club.” Graffis further commented, “for groups that can see their way to invest about $100,000 in a course, a study of how Oakwoods came into existence may offer a convenient solution to the detailed and often complicated matter of getting an undertaking such as this off the ground, or, at least, it should do away with false starts. After five years , the Oakwoods club is not only debt free but is built on such a solid foundation that there is no need for any wide scale improvements.”

Oakwood’s long history begins in the autumn of 1952 when a number of prominent Wilkes County citizens interested in building a golf course for the people of Wilkes met in the Forest Hills home of Pat M. Williams, Jr. and his wife Dottie. At this meeting approximately $100,000 was pledged toward the construction of a course. Additionally, a decision was made to employ widely known golf architects Robert Trent Jones of New York City, and J.B. McGovern of Philadelphia to survey possible development sites. Soon after the initial meeting of interested parties at the Williams’ home, the group was initially organized as the Wilkes Country Club at a public meeting at the North Wilkesboro Town Hall in December, 1952. Directors appointed to the Board of this organizational group were Henry L. Moore, E. F. Gardner, Boyd Stout, Richard G. (Rich) Finley, Richard B. Johnston, Dr. J.H. McNeil, Max Ferree, J.R. Hix, W. Blair Gwyn, Russell Gray, Jr., Mrs. Worth E. Tomlinson, Mrs. George Weibel, Robert R. Smoak, W. O. Absher, C. J. (Jack) Swofford, Russell G. Hodges, J. D. Moore, Jr., W. K. Sturdivant, Pat M. Williams, Jr., and Watson Brame. The officers elected at this meeting, Henry L. Moore, President, Pat M. Williams, Jr, First Vice-President, Richard B. Johnston, Second Vice-president, Russell G. Hodges, Secretary; and W. Blair Gwyn, treasurer were later also named as officers on the charter of incorporation when Wilkes Country Club was formally incorporated February 16, 1953, with $88,000 in stock subscriptions.

Architects Jones and McGovern selected a building site on the Oakwoods - Moravian Falls Road four miles south of North Wilkesboro, near what was then the Oakwoods post office. Through purchase and the execution of options, the organizers acquired 148 acres of land at the base of the Brushy Mountains ideal for a beautiful and challenging course. Pat Williams, Sr. donated the bulk of the property to the group, enough land for the first nine holes. He later donated 27 additional acres so there would be plenty of land available for the club to expand if it wished. Mr. Williams, Sr. retained approximately half of his existing land and sold off a number of building lots, the only revenue he gained in the development of the golf course. Additional tracts, not on the golf course but northwest of the club house and west of hole #1 (the par 3), were obtained from Ruben G. Anderson and J. V. Reins. The original investment in this land was $11,000. The club later sold this property as residential lots. The club also sold lots on the #3 fairway to Bill Benson, Sr, W. J. Brame, Ed Day and possibly others. Income from the sale of these lots was used to partially fund construction of a clubhouse and to pay down debt.

Among the organizational group were several bankers who devised an ingenious and successful approach to raising capital for the club’s construction. They suggested that potential members could borrow the initiation fee and dues from the bank, repaying in the same way as with any standard loan. The Graffis article in Golfdom states, “Later, it was agreed, that the fees and dues did not have to be collected in their entirety at the time a person joined the club, but could be paid off under a kind of subscription arrangement. A call for these funds went out only when construction costs caught up with what was left in the treasury. In the estimation of one North Wilkesboro citizen who had belonged to other clubs in his day, the Oakwoods system of extracting fees and dues was the most painless one he had run into.”

Construction of the original nine-hole course and clubhouse began in early spring 1953 with Arthur Ham, a venerable Scot architect, serving as course designer, James M. Parks of Union Grove as general contractor, and Newell Baker as OCC’s first golf pro. Mr. Baker, before coming to OCC, was the teaching professional at Blowing Rock Country Club and later head club professional at Cedarbrook Country Club in Elkin. Born in England, Arthur Ham had by this point in his career designed many noted courses in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. After moving from New Zealand to Michigan in the mid 1920’s, he designed Arbor Hills CC among others in Michigan. Semi-retiring from Michigan to the warmer climate in Mt. Airy, NC, Mr. Ham’s depth of experience served the Wilkes project well. There was some opposition at first to Ham’s iconoclastic methods of stripping in traps and contouring greens, but Oakwoods members are thankful that his design decisions prevailed as OCC is today one of the most beautiful and challenging courses in the foothills. What Mother Nature didn’t provide, Arthur Ham did. In an August 9, 1953 article in the Winston–Salem Journal and Sentinel written by sports editor Frank Spencer, OCC Treasurer Blair Gwyn was quoted as saying, “About 30 golfers from here go to Morganton regularly to play, and that’s a trip of 100 miles. Many of us have played regularly at Blowing Rock, another 100-mile trip. We have about 60 members in our new club now, and when it is completed this list will swell. A lot of us like golf and because of the great distance necessary to play a round it has prevented many would-be golfers of North Wilkesboro and Wilkesboro from becoming regular golfers.” How right he was!

Wilkes Country Club was renamed Oakwoods Country Club in January of 1954 and opened for play during that month. Henry L. Moore was elected the first President of Oakwoods Country Club, Mrs. Doris B. Brown, Vice-President, Robert R. Smoak, Secretary, and W. Blair Gwyn, Treasurer. Elected to the Board of Governors were Ralph Buchan, Richard Johnston, Pat M. Williams, Jr., Mrs. Frances Weibel, J.D. Moore, Boyd Stout, Dr. J.H. McNeil, Russell Gray, Jr., C.J. (Jack) Swofford, and Richard G. (Rich) Finley. The 3,270 yard course was “in good shape for playing,” according to golf professional, Newell Baker. The cost to join the club at this time was an initiation fee of $30 and annual dues of $96 for a resident family membership, $48 for a resident family membership with house privileges only, $72 for resident individual male membership, $36 for a resident individual male membership with house privileges only, $36 for a resident individual female membership, $48 for a non-resident family membership, and $36 for a non-resident individual male membership. Club President Henry Moore was quoted as saying “I would like to stress that every citizen in Wilkes County who is interested in the club is urged to participate. There has apparently been a misunderstanding by some that club membership is being restricted to those who have been contacted by the membership committee. This is not true. Voluntary applications by people who have not been approached will be most welcome.” Mr. Moore went on to say “signs will be erected shortly, directing Sunday drivers to the site. The road which turns into the property is 1.5 miles west of Oakwoods Post Office on the road from Oakwoods to Moravian Falls. The road has already been graded and graveled, and the public is invited to visit the property at any time to visit.” Watson Brame, one of the club’s original directors, used his significant influence with the North Carolina State Department of Transportation in to accelerate the grading, graveling and eventually the paving of the seemingly always muddy Country Club Rd between Brushy Mountain Road and Hwy 16/18. This was essential to attracting golfers to the new course.

Golf pro-superintendent Baker was quoted as observing: “The Oakwoods builders made all their dollars work when it came to building a clubhouse.” The original structure was 110 feet wide by 32 feet in depth, with a wing measuring 50 feet by 32 feet. It housed clubhouse facilities, a small pro shop and four room living quarters for Baker. It was the brainchild of a local furniture designer who was assisted by a few of the club’s members with an architectural flair. The contractor erected the structure on a cost-plus basis then agreed to cut his fee in half and take stock in exchange. Several local manufacturers donated furniture and a local appliance dealer outfitted the kitchen free of charge. Lockers were bought and donated to the club by members who received five years free locker rent in payment. With these various contributions and donations, the original clubhouse complex was built for only $30,000. In its early years, judging from Newell Baker’s handicap records, OCC experienced a great deal of play with 135 of the 160 members being active golfers. More than 40 of the members played to handicaps in the 4 – 12 range. The greens at Oakwoods were originally planted in Bermuda, but in 1957 Baker experimented with C-1 and C-19 mixed bent with reportedly very good results. OCC has been widely celebrated throughout its history for the quality of its greens. In the winter months, Seaside, Astoria and Highland bents were substituted for the original rye in the fairways.


1962 to 1992 - The Bill Greene Era

The second phase of Oakwood's long history began on May 1st, 1962 when Bill Greene, age 29, arrived in Wilkesboro to begin his long tenure as OCC's Head PGA Professional. Bill was an outstanding player already well known around the state for his soft hands, laser-like wedge shots, and lethal putting stroke. Bill came to OCC from Grassy Creek Golf Club in Spruce Pine, NC. where he held his first head pro's position. Bill began his career in the golf business in Boone NC under the tutelage of Boone Golf Club's long-time PGA Professional, Joe Maples. Boone was familiar territory for Bill, having been born and raised in Blowing Rock and having been the first member of the inaugural golf team at Appalachian State University in 1953.

OCC's first PGA professional, Newell Baker, had taken a new position in Benson, NC leaving Oakwoods with a nine hole golf course, a gravel parking lot, and a small swimming pool. By all accounts Baker had done a fine job, but Oakwoods members were eager to expand and Bill Greene proved to be the perfect catalyst for that growth. An outstanding player, Bill also had a course designer's imagination and a landscape architect's penchant for hard work. So, when then OCC Board President W.K. Newton approached Bill with the idea of supervising the construction of an additional nine holes, he was "preaching to the choir" so to speak. Just prior to Greene's arrival in Wilkesboro, noted course designer Ellis Maples had been retained to stake out a potential new nine holes of golf on property adjacent to the club. Additional land below the lake at the present hole #3 was donated by Pat Williams, Sr. Note that as Pat Williams, Sr. died in 1962, this donated land was possibly given by his children Mary Gwyn Williams Hubbard, Pat Williams, Jr., and Mike Williams. At this same time, some additional property was purchased from the J.V. Reins family.

Greene was eager to assume responsibility for this project, so in June of 1962, only one short month into his tenure, he, Ed Edsel, and George Absher began the laborious land-clearing, grading, cultivation, and planting needed to bring the new nine to fruition for OCC's avid golfers. These guys did outstanding work using nothing more than strong backs, two 1950's model Ford tractors, and a tractor-pulled five reel fairway mower. Mother Nature was kind and the new nine featuring bermuda grass fairways and greens was completed and opened for play in May of 1963.

Given the added nine holes, Bill decided to reroute the entire course. Holes numbers 1 and 2 of the existing nine became holes 10 and 11 of what is now the back nine and the just completed nine holes became the front nine. This is the routing that still exists today at OCC. Oakwood's new nine was financed by building new roads and developing a part of the property acquired from the Williams into the residential lots and homes now existing on Sandwedge Dr. and Forest Rd. These lots were sold initially for $2,000 each with the first home built in this new section of the Oakwoods development belonging to the previous golf professional, Newell Baker. Many Oakwoods members know this home to be the one current long-time member Dr. Keith Bentley lives in now. Other early home owners included Charlie Reece, Bill Benson, Carl Swofford, Clint Bentley, and Ron Knauss. When Bill Greene arrived at OCC in 1962, the club had 126 members. During Greene's long tenure the club attracted many new members, having over 500 at one point, and made many significant facility improvements. For the first two years he was at Oakwoods and unmarried at the time other than to the club, Bill lived in a small two room efficiency apartment in what is now the ladies lounge area of the clubhouse. In the early days, members could never accuse the Pro of not being "close to his work." As many productive years past, Bill and his long-time assistant Billy Hayes supervised not only the construction of the new nine, but also the club's tennis courts and driving range in 1966, the installation of a sprinkler system in 1969, the paving of the parking lot in 1972, the building of a much bigger swimming complex in 1977, the employment of the club's first Green's Superintendent Henry Harrold in 1980, and the building of a cart shed in 1992.

As was mentioned earlier, Bill was an outstanding golfer. His achievements on the links while representing Oakwoods Country Club include holding the course record at OCC of 62, winning many Pro-Am tournaments around the state through the 60's, 70's and 80's, and finishing second to Charlie Smith of Gastonia, NC in the 1962 North and South Carolina Open. Bill Greene served OCC faithfully and well for 32 years until retiring in 1994. He was so instrumental in the club's growth, made so many friends, and was so well thought of in the Wilkesboro communities, he was honored with the title of Oakwoods Head PGA Professional Emeritus. Bill Greene remained an honored and influential presence in the clubhouse until his death in the fall of 2009.

1994 to 2004 - The Lee Duncan Era

Bill Greene’s retirement presaged the next segment of OCC history when PGA Professional Lee Duncan returned “home” to Oakwoods Country Club in June of 1994, having previously served as an assistant to Bill Greene for 13 months in 1987 and 1988. After a six year stint as Head Golf Professional at The Country Club of South Carolina in Florence, SC, Lee embraced the opportunity “fill the big shoes” left by his friend and mentor. Lee first became familiar with OCC, its course, and its members during his college years at Appalachian State University. Much like Bill, Lee was born in the high country of Boone, North Carolina and was a member of the ASU Golf Team. It was on one of the many “trips down the mountain” to escape the snow that Lee first enjoyed the OCC layout. Little did he know at the time that such a bright future was in store for him in Wilkesboro!

Many capital projects and course improvements where completed during Lee’s tenure at the Club. The clubhouse had been completely renovated just prior to Lee joining the Oakwoods team so Lee turned his attention to the golf course. A new, state-of-the-art irrigation system was installed in 1996 and Lee guided a complete course renovation in 2001 by the noted design firm, Kris Spence Golf. Kris Spence is nationally recognized as one of the leading architects in the design and restoration of classic golf architecture. Thanks to these major improvements and the skilled supervision of long time golf course superintendent Mike Mizelle, the OCC course is now considered to be one of the premier layouts in northwest North Carolina. Lee was not only a major force in the progression and growth of OCC, he was active in the community serving for many years on the Wilkes Community College Endowment Board among other things. After ten years of exemplary and loyal service, Lee left Oakwoods in late 2003 to accept a position with the Mid Carolina Club in Prosperity, SC, where he currently serves as the PGA Professional and General Manager. Lee and his family, wife Laura, daughter Caroline, and son Lee Jr. still maintain strong ties with the Club and to Wilkes County.

2004 to Present

The spring of 2004 brought Oakwoods its fourth PGA Golf Professional in its fifty-six year history when Kenny Cashwell accepted the head pro’s position vacated by Lee Duncan. The Cashwell hiring was somewhat unique in that his wife, Becky, was also a Class A PGA Professional. Thus, in a very real sense, OCC “got two for the price of one”, although Becky was not officially employed by the club. Becky Cashwell did however give golf lessons to many of Oakwood’s female golfers, and worked behind the scenes to benefit the club in many other ways. The Cashwell’s stay in Wilkes County was a productive, albeit brief, one as they left mid-year in 2006 to take employment at a club in South Carolina.

Cashwell’s departure left Oakwoods looking for its second Head PGA Pro within a span of three years having had only three in the preceding fifty. The Club hired its current Head Golf Professional, Randy McCoy, a promising young Class A PGA pro, in March of 2007. Randy brought 9 years of experience as an assistant pro from Mimosa Hills C.C. in Morganton, and 6 years experience as an assistant at Jefferson Landing Club located In Jefferson, NC. It was Randy’s first Head PGA Pro position. The OCC Board of directors immediately challenged McCoy with a number of organizational objectives and goals including upgrading the Golf Shop and OCC branded apparel, placing a renewed emphasis on teaching lessons for the membership, and reviving the once flourishing junior golf program, and broadening and improving the Club’s golf tournament schedule. One of McCoy’s most noteworthy achievements in this area was the 2008 re-institution the OCC Pro Am Tournament which Bill Greene directed successfully for so many years. To date, this event has generated donations from Oakwoods to the local Hospice Association of over $1800. In October of 2008, The OCC Board made a decision which significantly changed the Club’s organizational and management structure by expanding McCoy’s job description to include management responsibilities. Heretofore, the Club had essentially been managed by the various standing committees of the Board of Governors, with the PGA Professional implementing and applying Board decisions as and when appropriate. McCoy was given the title General Manager/Head Golf Professional and continues in that role today. In his new, expanded role, McCoy is charged with managing the Club’s various budgets more efficiently, and in general providing management leadership in all operational areas on a day-to-day basis. Additionally, Randy is currently working on a project to make Oakwoods a Family Friendly Golf Facility. This program was initiated by the U.S. Kids Golf organization and requires golf clubs give their “golfing kids” a set of tees to make the game more fun and manageable, among many other things. The program establishes attainable goals and measures to aid in the kids’ development.

The Oakwoods membership currently benefits from the expertise of one of the best greens superintendent in the state. Mike Mizelle, OCC’s course superintendent since 1993, cut his professional teeth at North Ridge Country Club in Raleigh, NC from 1982 – 1993. He began at North Ridge as a part-time employee, but with hard work and a passion for turfgrass management he had progressed to an Assistant Superintendent position when he left for Oakwoods Country club in March, 1993. Originally from Topeka, Kansas Mike grew up in Raleigh attending Millbrook High School prior to graduating from NCSU with an Associate's Degree in Turfgrass Management with a concentration in agri-business. Mike attained Certified Golf Course Superintendent status in September, 2005; this is noteworthy as this is achieved by less than 15% of all Superintendents in the U.S. Some of the many significant accomplishments OCC has benefited from during Mike’s tenure include vastly improved course contouring, the implementation of important budgetary and cost control processes, installation of a sophisticated course-wide irrigation system, and managing many elements of OCC’s 2001 greens restoration project. Mike resides in Wilkesboro with wife Michelle, kids Christopher, 14 years old, and Sarah, 9 years old. The Mizelle family attends Wilkesboro Baptist Church. When not on the course, Mike enjoys hunting, fishing, golf and spending time with his family.

As is clear, Oakwoods Country Club has a long, rich history of providing recreational and social opportunities to the citizens of Wilkes and surrounding counties. Most importantly the club is still doing that and doing it well.