Why can’t the rest of us learn what golf taught Jim Ferree? | Opinion
He could hit a golf ball a long way, and hit it straight.
That’s how most people will remember Jim Ferree of Hilton Head Island, who died March 14 a little shy of his 92nd birthday.
But that wouldn’t do justice to the North Carolina native who saw more to life than golf, and more to golf than a game.
When Jim Ferree was stroking it for his beloved University of North Carolina Tar Heels, he won the 1953 NCAA long-drive contest, hitting three balls an average of 284 yards with a driver that today would be mistaken for a Popsicle stick.
He played from the championship tees until he was 75.
He rarely missed a fairway, his sweet swing in knickers and flat cap being the model for the logo of the PGA Tour Champions circuit.
They say he struggled on the green, but I wouldn’t consider his $2.5 million in pro-tour earnings, or shooting your age at 67, signs of struggle.
“You don’t ever conquer golf,” said his wife, Karen, like her late husband a resident in several golf halls of fame.
The challenge was in Jim Ferree’s blood from birth. His father was North Carolina golfing legend Purvis Ferree of the Old Town Club in Winston-Salem.
People love to poo-poo golf, claiming it’s a symbol of excess for fat cats. But reflecting on Jim Ferree’s life makes me wonder why our so-called political leaders and media giants won’t quit fomenting hate for a living and act like a golfer who plays a fickle game correctly, with respect for rules, respect for opponents, respect for the honor system, and respect for the winner.
Purvis Ferree drilled that into his son when he took up the game for good at age 12. And that’s why it was the character, not the long drives, that led to Jim Ferree being serenaded on his 90th birthday when he got to the 18th green at the Long Cove Club.
Long Cove is where the Ferrees lived on the first hole and where they were married in 1987. In many ways, Long Cove is the house that Jim Ferree built. He was approached by his old Tar Heel buddy Joe Webster when Webster and two partners wanted to pull off a private golf club community with beautiful real estate on the south end of Hilton Head in 1980.
Jim Ferree signed on and was assigned to go visit Pete and Alice Dye and convince them to design the course. They didn’t want to, but they did it.
And Jim Ferree knew golf writer and historian Charlie Price, whose contacts made sure the new Long Cove course got the attention of golf course raters, who fawned over it.
Jim Ferree’s reputation as a human being, not merely a golfer, was stamped all over it as its first director of golf.
The result was a lasting boost to the Lowcountry economy, and a golf course that’s a more envied tee time than Pete Dye’s masterpiece at nearby Harbour Town. It’s one that all the pros want to play when they come to town, and one where Darius Rucker sponsors an annual tournament for top women’s college teams.
Jim and Karen Ferree led the charge for the First Tee of the Lowcountry program on Hilton Head because they felt compelled to encourage kids to take on golf’s challenges of character and temperament.
They led the “launch committee” that raised $680,000 for the facility built beside the Boys and Girls Club.
Jim Ferree felt his life was as lucky as a downhill double-breaker putt he once sank to win a PGA Tour event.
He son, Randy, said his father felt his luck was not for any particular reason, and wasn’t earned or deserved. He simply felt he’d been dealt a pretty nice hand in life and tried to pay it forward. Hilton Head is lucky that he chose to live that life where he did.
None of the rest of us will ever be called one of the greatest golf ball strikers in the history of the game. But we can do better at other things the game taught Jim Ferree: to aim high, respect the rules, help others along, play it where it lies, leave life’s bunker in better shape than you found it, and do the right thing even when no one is watching.
This story was originally published March 25, 2023 at 4:00 AM.