Photos
Blog
NewslettersLowcountry golfer to enter South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame
jjarrett@islandpacket.com
843-706-8120
Jim Ferree will proudly make the trek to Columbia Country Club on Saturday and reap another round of accolades, even if he isn't sure why it's headed his way.
E-Mail it
Print it
"Really, I didn't win much of anything in South Carolina," said Ferree, who on Saturday will go into the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame. "My playing record in South Carolina is very sketchy. That's why I was so surprised when they put me in. I guess it was for ... I don't know what it was for. They'll have to tell me when I get up there."
A better question might be why they wouldn't put him in.
In addition to a successful playing career that included winning the 1958 Vancouver Open (his only PGA Tour victory) and a pair of victories on what was then the Senior PGA Tour, Ferree has been one of the most recognizable characters on the Lowcountry golf landscape for more than two decades, including a long stint as the head professional at Long Cove Club. He already is a member of the Carolinas PGA Hall of Fame, the Carolinas Golf Writers Hall of Fame, the Tri-State PGA Hall of Fame and the University of North Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame.
Although he doesn't get many chances to play competitively these days -- opportunities for aging professionals such as Ferree are few -- he's still an intense competitor. He gears up for the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf each year as if it is a major championship, and it shows -- in the second round of last year's tournament, he shot 65 on his own ball.
"My game's just ... you know, it's real good for a 77-year-old guy," Ferree said. "But I don't play with many 77-year-old guys, so I get to looking kind of bad out there playing with these 50s and 60s and 20s and stuff."
For the most part, though, Ferree's time on the golf course and off is a bit more laid-back now. He plays casual rounds with friends at Long Cove, Belfair and Berkeley Hall, and he keeps close tabs on his Tar Heels, making it to Chapel Hill for wins against Notre Dame and Georgia Tech this season.
And every now and then, he picks up the phone and answers a call to come pick up another round of honors or take his place in another hall of fame.
"That's pretty nice, isn't it?," Ferree said. "It's pretty nice."
THE FERREE FILE
Name: Jim Ferree
Born: June 10, 1931 in Pinebluff, N.C.
Resides: Hilton Head Island
Accolades: Ferree won one event on the PGA Tour and two events on what was then the Senior PGA Tour, and he has since teamed with Miller Barber to win two Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf Demaret Division titles. ... In addition to the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame, to which he will be inducted Saturday, Ferree already is a member of the Carolinas PGA Hall of Fame, the Tri-State PGA Hall of Fame, the Carolinas Golf Writers Hall of Fame and the University of North Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame.
Did you know ... ?: Ferree was the model for the knickers-wearing player in the original Senior PGA Tour logo.
@Nyx.CommentBody@