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PANTHER WOODS COUNTRY CLUB ... IN THE NEWS |
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Hometown News ..... August 14, 2009
Golf column by James Stammer
"Remembering a local golf legend"
Article is about Charles Ankrom who designed the Panther Woods golf course.
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We all hope to leave a legacy when we depart this world.
For some it's the legacy of their family. For others it's through friends, for still others, it's their careers. If we're lucky, we manage to obtain one of those. Then there are the exceptional ones who manage a legacy so strong they live on through all three. My good friend, Charles F. Ankrom, was one of the exceptional ones.
On July 24, 2009, Chuck, as his friends knew him, passed from this world. At only 72, he lost a brief battle with cancer, but left behind a wonderful legacy even for those who never met him.
Ankrom was an internationally acclaimed golf course architect, and a member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. He had his hands in the development of golf courses and golf course communities in 28 states, and nine countries or territories. Some of his best work is right here in our backyard.
If you've teed it up at Panther Woods in Fort Pierce, Aquarina in Melbourne, The Habitat in Palm Bay, Sebastian Municipal, Fort Lauderdale, or Cocoa Beach, then you've enjoyed some of his work. He even designed his home courses at Martin Downs, where he made his home for the past three decades.
Born November 7, 1936, Chuck was a boy from the "wrong side of the tracks," as he put it.
As a small boy, he fell in love with a game played with a funny stick and a ball. When not in school he'd pick up balls and caddie at the local golf course in his hometown of Parkersburg, W. Va., because that was the only way he knew to get near a course to learn the game.
During his teenage years, he became an accomplished golfer and went onto win a West Virginia state event. After high school, he entered the Army during a time when the military brass was very into golf. The generals of his base made sure this country kid helped them beat the other generals.
After his service in the military, he attended West Virginia University and learned how to draw at the Eli Frank School of Design Arts. He eventually moved to Florida and took a job with Dave Wallace and Lorn Parrish Golf Course Architects. Under their direction, he learned about golf-course design and construction, along with turf management.
In 1964 he got his big break when he became executive director of golf operations and corporate golf course architect for General Development. He designed and built all of the courses for GDC's new developments.
By 1970 he was on the national stage with the same position at Boise Cascade Recreation Communities Group, based in California. Now he was working across the United States.
Chuck decided in 1973 to become his own boss and started Charles F. Ankrom, Incorporated. As with most businessmen starting on their own, he had a rough beginning, but soon established himself as a top course designer and development master planner.
Over the next three decades he would design or remodel more than 50 courses.
Chuck once told me that his design philosophy was to "focus on the 'classic traditional golf course,' spiced with proven accents of modern trends, and when possible, use his creative skills to provide features unique to each site."
Most of all he wanted his courses to be fun for players of all levels.
Being from West Virginia, Chuck didn't like flat terrain. When he found himself with a flat canvas, he'd create ponds and valleys to find dirt to create hills and mounds to give his courses a dramatic feel.
He was also involved in his community and church. He dedicated time and service to help create the award-winning Bulldogs Sports Turf Complex, a one-of-its-kind three-hole learning facility at South Fork High School, where teens learn about the game and turf management.
In 1993, he received the Presidential Citation from the ASGCA for his work in the industry.
Through all this he stayed dedicated to his family. When it mattered most he was there for them. He was a loving husband of more than 40 years and a wonderful father to his four children and seven grandchildren. He saw to it the legacy he'd leave with his family was that of being a leader by example, always being there and making sure they got the push they needed to start their own lives.
"I know that I personally will always respect him as a great admirer of his work," said his son, Steve, "which makes me realize now that makes me respect him as a father. A leader leads by example and for many years, I had no greater example than him. He became my hero."
Rest in peace my dear friend. I will miss you and will think of you with love and fondness whenever I stick that little peg in the ground at one of your courses. |
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Panther Woods Country Club - 25 Happy Years |
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Article by Donna Murray
Reprinted with permission from YourHub.com |
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Panther Woods Country Club is celebrating 25 years, of good golf, good members, good food and good times. Sometimes called "The Hidden Gem of the Treasure Coast" Panther Woods is situated on 195 acres in northwest Fort Pierce. The golf course opened in October,1983 and the beautiful grand Club House was introduced in December of the same year. The World Mixed Championship Golf Tournament was held December 14-18, 1983 with Pati Rizzo and Ray Floyd representing Monte Carlo, as the Club was named in those days. However, Sam Snead and Joanne Carner won the tournament.
In the beginning Ray Floyd was hired to represent Monte Carlo as a touring pro and Bernard Langer and Patti Rizzo were contracted to represent Monte Carlo in golf, as was Bjorn Borg in tennis.
From 1988 until his death in 2002, as Golf Pro Emeritus, Master's Champion Sam Snead made Panther Woods his winter home. Slammin' Sam often surprising members by giving them impromptu lessons as they practiced on the driving range. Panther Woods celebrated Sam's 90th birthday in the Spring of 2002 - just before he left to hit his last opening shot at the Masters. He passed away a short time later.
Panther Woods is a fantastic golf course, designed by award-winning architect Charles Ankrom, the course features five sets of tees with the championship tees measuring in at 6,744 yards and the shortest set coming in at 5,014 yards. The course is spacious, you see the homes surrounding the course, but they are never in danger, even from the worst shot.
The Tennis Center facility has five Har-Tru Courts that were resurfaced in late 2005. There is a large, heated pool, locker rooms and an activity center. The Tennis Professional is available for lessons and the calendar is full of clinics and matches.
After the hurricanes of 2004, the Panther Woods clubhouse was completely refurbished with new roof, interior drywall, painting, carpeting, etc. The Members' Grill, smaller dining room and elegant main dining room that seats up to 300 all beautifully decorated and available for outside weddings, banquets and meetings. The Catering and Banquet facilities are managed and operated by Dominick Collura, popular local restauranteur.
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Members of Panther Woods Country Club will begin celebrating 25 years of good times with a special 25th Anniversary Golf Tournament and top it off with a gala Panther Woods Welcome Back Silver Anniversary Dinner Dance.
The Club is now offering special Golf, Tennis, Social and "Snowbird" memberships to folks who reside outside the Panther Woods community.
To contact the club for membership or banquet information: Call (772) 466-4000 or on the Web at www.pantherwoodscountryclub.com. Join us.
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July 2008: THE BALL HAWK |
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Article by Peter Chapin. Reprinted with permission from Florida Fairways |
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FORT PIERCE — Some golfers get a bit antsy when the foursome ahead hold up play. Paul Havekotte uses the lull to pursuing two other hobbies: catching lost golf balls and fish.
He's been considerably more successful as a golf-ball angler — he's given away exactly 21,910 balls as of June 10, keeping score on a cardboard box in the corner of his garage where he cleans his catch.
That's why they call him the Ball Hawk at Panther Woods, where he lives and golfs.
"I've worn out four of these," he said, holding up a double-wheeled ball retriever that holds up to four balls. "I use the broken ones for spare parts."
Sometimes he finds them while moseying around the rough or bunkers as he waits the group ahead to move out of range.
"After playing, I might start looking at the edge of ponds," said the 73-year-old retired Grumman Aircraft engineer. "Or I drive my cart around. I go about 10 mph and I can spot them — I have an uncanny knack for finding them."
Or he'll find them while wandering the course in the evening.
Formerly from Smithtown, N.Y., Havekotte began this pastime 9½ years ago.
"I was playing on a course in Pennsylvania with a teacher from Baltimore Community College who hunted for golf balls just for exercise," he explained. "He gave me 12 balls, and I didn't even know him."
He said his greatest bonanza occurred seven years ago on a pond along Panther Woods' 18th hole.
"The water was unusually low that year. On a sandbar that's usually to deep to see, I pulled out 132 balls."
Another time, a friend "seeded" a hole, placing a ball on the 15th hole he was sure Havekotte would find.
"He wrote on it, ‘Hi, Paul.'
Then there was the fellow who, knowing Havekotte was approaching, carefully placed a golf ball near an eight-foot-long alligator that was napping on the 17th tee.
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Paul Havecotte washes a bucket of golf ball he rescued from the course.
Golf balls can run, but they can't hide when Paul Havekotte prowls Panther Woods. |
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"The alligator spooked when I came around and left," the Ball Hawk recalled, adding grimly: "It was just a range ball."
As with fishing, some catches are better than other. Range ball are the bottom feeders compared to Titleist ProVIXs, worth up to $4 each.
Havekotte cleans the retrieved balls with a wire brush and soaks them in a Clorox-water solution. The cleaned ones are separated into some 40 plastic jugs and buckets according to brand. Some are bagged in groups of 10 and labeled.
"Sometimes I put a box of balls in my cart or bag them with people's names on them," he said. "I given them to people I play with."
He has a bucket of balls reserved for his wife, and another batch is set aside for his son and daughter, when they visit.
"Some people don't want them," he added. "They think balls don't carry too well after they've been in the water."
But many are delighted when the Ball Hawk lands.
Havekotte's fishing sideline at Panther Woods hasn't been quite so lucrative. He carries a couple of poles on his golf cart and will take a cast or two when play slows down. So far he's caught five bass this year.
They're the only Panther Woods residents not happy to see Paul coming.
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April 30, 2008 |
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I would like to commend the efficiency and professionalism of the St Lucie Fire Rescue Service and the Florida Division of Forestry for the expeditious way in which they handled the brush fire on the 30th April 2008 that broke out at the edge of the Panther Woods Country Club development, home of the late Sam Snead, which resulted in no property damage or injuries.
It took the crew from both these groups only a little over an hour from receiving the 911 call at 2 pm on a windy afternoon to get the brush fire under control which burnt 8 acres of brush stretching from I-95 to
within fifty feet of homes on the western edge of our Panther Woods Country Club development. The swift action of these teams, which fire officials indicated included over 20 fighters and Division of Forestry
personal on the scene tackling the blaze and assisted by three brush trucks, three engines, two tankers, a bull dozer and a helicopter which doused the fire with three thousand gallons of water from the nine trips
from area lakes.
We especially appreciated the Fire Department watching over the scene on the site till 8:30 pm that night ensuring that the fire was extinct before leaving.
Gratefully,
Alf D'Silva
President, the Board of Governors
Panther Woods Country Club
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