PINEHURST, NORTH CAROLINA | The lunch crowd is beginning to trickle into The Deuce, the world’s grill room overlooking the 18th green at Pinehurst No. 2, and Jack Nance can see another group of golfers finishing their round in the late November sunshine.
Nance has been around golf for most of his 64 years, and he has spent the past 33 years as executive director of the Carolinas Golf Association, one of the largest state golf associations in the country.
In his understated way, Nance is as much a part of the Carolinas’ golf universe as this Sandhills resort or approximately 900 courses spread across North and South Carolina.
Fresh out of Wake Forest where he played college golf with future PGA Tour winners Robert Wrenn and Gary Hallberg, Nance joined the CGA in 1984 while waiting for his career path to emerge. All these years later, Nance is retiring from the CGA on December 31, having seen it grow from the three-person operation when he began into an organization with 21 full-time employees that put on 371 events spanning more than 500 competition days this year.
Glancing at the course outside, Nance is adjusting to the idea of playing more golf while leaving the administrative business to others.
“You know when you know,” Nance said of his decision to retire. “I have to be 100 percent in or nothing. The middle of last summer, it hit me that I have been doing this for more than 41 years, and I was just not as into it.
“I didn’t feel like I could be just 90 percent and not be 100 percent. I wasn’t looking forward to the next year as much. I knew in my heart it was the right time to do it and to get some new ideas in here.”
When Nance began working at the CGA under the leadership of Hale Van Hoy, it had a one-room office in the clubhouse at Tanglewood Park, host of the 1974 PGA Championship, in Clemmons, North Carolina. It moved from there to a spot at Seven Lakes Golf Club in West End, seven miles from Pinehurst.
“We were trying to get to Pinehurst and didn’t quite get there,” Nance said.
Ten years ago, the CGA moved into a new building adjacent to Pine Needles Golf and Lodge, firmly anchoring the organization in the Pinehurst area.
Like anyone who has spent part of five decades at the same organization, Nance has seen his share of change. In 2000, the CGA had handicap cards for approximately 192,000 golfers. That number dipped below 150,000 in 2014, and now it’s over 220,000 as golf’s growth continues.
The CGA has grown from hand-writing tee times and posting tee sheets at host hotels for the bigger events to having all tournament details online.
“Now all we have to do is text everyone,” Nance said.
Ask Nance what he’s most proud of across the span of his career, and he thinks for a moment.
“Hiring the people I did,” he said. “It’s the staff that grew the association to what it is, and I guess maybe I helped them by letting them go do it.”
He intends to see and tee it up with old friends more often now that he won’t be restricted by his work duties, bringing back the days when they were young and unencumbered.
One of those staff members was Andy Priest, who learned the business under Nance, left to become executive director of the Alabama Golf Association and director of the Southern Golf Association and is returning as Nance’s successor.
“It’s a testament to Jack’s developmental skills that Andy is coming back,” said Rick Riddle, president of the Carolinas Golf Association. “He has developed so many people on their staff.”
As his retirement day approaches, Nance is accustomed to being asked what’s next for him. He has volunteered to help at CGA events should he be needed, but on the advice of friends, Nance isn’t making any definitive plans about his future.
“It’s getting real now, and I have never had any cold feet about my decision,” Nance said. “I have no plans. I’ve asked a bunch of retirees about what to do, and they keep telling me to keep my plate clean. They tell me, don’t commit to anything and just chill out for a while.”
Nance estimates he has played about 50 rounds of golf this year and he expects to play more in the future “just because I can.”
He intends to see and tee it up with old friends more often now that he won’t be restricted by his work duties, bringing back the days when they were young and unencumbered.
Seeing Pinehurst No. 2 just a pitch shot away from where he’s finishing lunch, Nance is happy about what he’s done and happy about what’s ahead.
“I have no intention of going anywhere else,” Nance said. “If I did, I’d be the first person ever to retire and move away from Pinehurst.”