Badin Inn and Golf Course History

The town of Badin was born in 1913 when the French company L’Aluminum Francais began work on a dam to produce hydroelectric power necessary for the production of aluminum. The French built the original clubhouse at the current Badin Inn Golf Resort as a club and guest house for single male employees.
 
During WWI, the French diverted their energies back to France, and sold their holdings to Andrew Mellon’s Alcoa company. The Town was named for the company’s first president, Adrienne Badin.
 
In 1924, several residents of the new town began hitting golf balls around the hospital grounds (now known as the Alcoa conference center) and clubhouse at the Inn.
 
In November of 1924, they organized the Badin Golf Club and Alcoa made available land for a golf course. Initiation fees were set at $5.00, with a $2.50 reduction if the new club member was willing to work on the construction of the golf course.
 
The members hired Mr. V.C. Edminster, who many believe worked under the direction of Mr. Donald Ross from nearby Pinehurst, to lead the golf course construction project. The golf course was just the 19th to be built in North Carolina, and the closest courses were all located in Pinehurst.
 
The golf course was built on the natural contour of the land, all part of the Uwharrie Mountain chain, which are the oldest mountains in the western hemisphere. Eroded over millions of years, the mountains are now gentle rolling hills dense with Carolina pines and rich in minerals including gold and copper.
 
By 1928, the club’s name was changed to the Stanly County Club to entice more members from throughout the county. The members hired their first golf pro, Mr. Dugan Aycock, who later went on to become the president of the Carolina’s PGA section and Vice President of the PGA of America. Aycock later made history in WWII by smuggling golf balls and clubs into Europe for the service men to enjoy.
 
In 1960, the golf course was redesigned by Mr. Ellis Maples, also of Pinehurst. Maples and his father both worked for Donald Ross. Maples went on to design Pinehurst #5 and was one of the most prolific golf course architects in the southeast.  Maples was considered one of the world’s best golf architects at the time the members hired him.
 

The second golf pro, Mr. Earl Estridge, shaped the future of the country club during his 35+ years of service. In 1930, he taught a 12-year old Badin resident, Johnny Palmer, how to caddy, and eventually how to play golf. Johnny Palmer went on to become a regular member of the PGA tour for many years and racked up eight tour victories in the 1940’s and 50’s, and was part of the wining team in the prestigious 1949 Ryder Cup.
 
Given the nickname “Stone” by Sam Snead who was fascinated by the emotionless expressions of Palmer, Johnny held the record for low round at Pinehurst #2 with a 65 until new ownership took over the resort and made the course more player-friendly.
 
Johnny played in 13 Masters Tournaments, and his wins included the Houston Open, the World’s Open, Nashville Open, Canadian Open and Colonial Invitational. He once shot a 62 and 64 in the final two rounds of the Tucson Open, setting a 36-hole PGA Tour record for many years.
 
Sam Snead called Johnny his most favorite competitor after winning the 1949 PGA Championship. Johnny finished second and third in dozens of other tournaments during the Ben Hogan-Sam Snead Era.
 
Badin hosted many pros through the early years.  Sam Snead was a regular and Walter Hagen liked to poke fun at an old sewer plant that once divided the fairways in the 1940’s. Other notables like Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan and Bob Hamilton all visited. Upon Johnny’s death in 2006, Arnold Palmer sent a note and photograph to the club, remembering Johnny as “the Original Palmer” and told several funny stories of their times together.
 
The club was a private club from 1924-1997 and was sold in 2005 to a company that is restoring it with the help of Mel Lucas Jr., a world renown historic golf course restoration expert and past president of GCSAA.
 
The former 23-room clubhouse housed many of the Alcoa employees, teachers and support staff through its early history. W.C. Fields and Mae West played at the local Badin Opera House (where the Post Office now stands) and stayed here. Other notables followed, but the guest rooms were later abandoned. Today, the new owners have renovated the clubhouse into an historic inn, now renamed the Badin Inn Golf Resort and Club.
 
Visitors remark that this secret place reminds them of a ‘mini-Pinehurst.’ The quaint village setting, historic buildings and look of the clubhouse and Inn all contribute to the image.