When Bobby Evans first moved into the Pine Knolls neighborhood seven years ago, he set his sights on the neighborhood’s golf course. Now, Evans is the new owner of the Pine Knolls Golf Club, an 18-hole course that was designed by the Poindexter Brothers in 1969.
Evans purchased the golf course from Jim Butler, a resident of Pine Knolls, who bought the course in 2015.
“He’s 89 years old now, and he ran it for the last 10 years, and he did a great job, and he really brought it back to life,” Evans said.
Evans attributes the revival of the Pine Knolls Golf Club during Butler’s ownership to Ryan Winfree, the head golf professional, and Don Messer, the superintendent.
“Don should be credited for breathing life back into the course when Mr. Butler bought the course, and Ryan was pivotal in bringing players back to Pine Knolls, and he’s an excellent tournament coordinator and host,” Evans said.
Evans said that since moving into the community, he had always wanted to own the golf course, so when the opportunity arose, he eagerly closed the deal.
“I quickly realized that this is just a great operation, and once someone gets their hands on it that was in my age range, they would probably never let it go,” he said.
Evans said he wanted to preserve the golf course.
“I didn’t want it to go to a corporation that buys golf courses, and then they turn them corporate. The other option is that it could sell to a land developer, and then there would be houses out here. I didn’t want to see that,” Evans said.
Evans said he is looking forward to implementing features like the ability to reserve tee times online and he wants to keep the course accessible to golfers of all skill levels.
“They can just go to our website, see the openings, book a tee time, and then they can come up, pay, and play golf. I really want to continue what the previous owner did with keeping the course. It’s very playable for anybody, from a beginner to folks who are really good and have been playing golf for a long time. They love playing out here because there are some challenging holes and there are some easier holes,” Evans said.
Evans said the golf course serves as the hub for the neighborhood, making it a place where friendships and connections are formed.
“A lot of people out here like to say that this isn’t a country club, it’s just a club in the country. If you were to talk to a bunch of the golfers out here, they started golfing out here, and they probably didn’t know anybody out here, and they made friends, and families become friends out here,” Evans said.
Pine Knolls Golf Club is at 1100 Quail Hollow Road.
