Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame welcomes Pinehurst’s Bob Farren

From left: Pinehurst President Tom Pashley, Pinehurst CEO and owner Bob Dedman Jr., Carolinas Golf Association inductee Bob Farren and golf course architect Gil Hanse. (Photo: Jackson Sveen/Carolinas Golf Association)

The Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame recently inducted Bob Farren, CGCS, Pinehurst’s director of golf course maintenance.

“I was very moved by it,” Farren said. “I’ve been to a number of ceremonies of the people honored in the past, and I’ve always held them in really high regard.”

Farren chuckled and added that when Carolinas Golf Association Executive Director Jack Nance asked to speak with him, he assumed Nance was going to ask him to introduce the person who was to be inducted.

Farren, a native of West Virginia, joined Pinehurst in 1982. He has worked on eight USGA championships at Pinehurst, including three U.S. Opens and the U.S. Women’s Open. He’s received the President’s Award for Environmental Stewardship from the Golf Course Superintendents of America in 2007 and Golf Digest magazine’s Green Star Award in 2014.

He mentions bringing Pinehurst back to relevance in the world of championship golf after it had fallen on hard times as a highlight of his career.

“I have prided myself on the response of Pinehurst’s golf maintenance and golf management divisions on being able to be resilient, creative and resourceful,” he said. “To stay and remain part of that for almost four decades, it’s been special.”

As for the sport’s future, Farren said it’s time to bring more fun into golf, referencing Pinehurst’s new par-3 courses.