Arnold Palmer putts his stamp of approval on new golf course

By Connie Sage, Correspondent

MERRY HILL

Not even a tornado could keep Warner Perry from watching golf legend Arnold Palmer play nine holes near Edenton on Friday afternoon.

Earlier a tornado had ripped through Bertie County farm land a few miles away, destroying two of Perry's irrigation systems.

But the equipment, valued at about $100,000, was insured, and watching Palmer play on his new signature golf course at Innsbrook Golf & Boat was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"I love the game, and Palmer did more to introduce golf to the American public than anyone else has done," Perry said.

Palmer's arrival at the Edenton airport - he pilots his own Citation X jet - was delayed by the foul weather.

But while winds remained gusty, by the time Palmer teed off shortly after noon to officially dedicate the private course, skies had cleared and temperatures climbed into the 80s.

Palmer, 78, briskly walked the course, part of a new, 900-acre housing development in rural Merry Hill, stopping frequently to accommodate fans who asked if they could take his photo.

"The wind got it," Palmer joked several times, including once when he hit the ball into a sand trap on the sixth hole.

After making two birdies and one chip-in for an even par 36, Palmer posed for more photos and autographed everything from the shirts that fans were wearing to golf clubs.

"He's always looking to make someone else's day nicer," said Marty Newingham of Latrobe, Pa., who said he caddied for Palmer 35 years ago.

He and his friend Jim Bryan, who both play golf with Palmer at his Latrobe course, had flown in with him on Friday.

The head golf pro of the new Innsbrook course is Tim Dougherty, the former head pro for Duck Woods Country Club in Southern Shores.

The course is the focal point of the planned Innsbrook subdivision, built by investors from Austria who were on hand for Palmer's visit.

Only two of the planned 400 homes in the community on the Albemarle Sound near Avoca farms have been built so far.

"Anyone who reads the paper or watches TV realizes the economy is slow," said Innsbrook's associate broker Chris Catron.

"People who live in a planned community most of the time have already made their money," and Innsbrook will be their second or retirement home, he said.

"We've been on the ground for three years, from cornfield to signature golf course to roads. For a project this size, we're in the early stages," he said.