August begins with Golfweek Mountain Man in North Carolina

The next stop on Golfweek’s senior amateur calendar takes elite players into the Blue Ridge mountains in North Carolina. The Senior Mountain Man will be contested Aug. 3-5 at Mountain Glen Golf Club in Newland, North Carolina, starting off a strong month in senior golf that takes players across the state to Pinehurst for the North & South Amateur, to the Sunnehanna Senior Amateur in Pennsylvania and culminates with the U.S. Senior Amateur.

This week at the Mountain Man, the assignment is mountain golf. The 18-hole Mountain Glen course dates to the early 1960s, when it was designed by George W. Cobb. The course blends a links-style front nine with a back nine that features elevation changes.

“It’s a great George Cobb design that is straight forward with everything in front of you. It’s the subtleties that make the course special,” said Director of Golf Robert Nowak.  “Each hole is unique and presents a challenge to the golfer. Located in a valley, the front side doesn’t possess any major elevation changes, but the backside heads up into the ‘cranberry draw’ and then makes its way down.

“The subtle uneven lies in the fairway will demand solid iron play. The greens are receptive and will reward the well-positioned approach shot. With false fronts on several of the holes, and a few severe slopes, being below the pin is paramount as downhill putts can be treacherous, so distance control is the key.”

The result is a course that the field will find fun to play though not without its challenges.

“While the course isn’t particularly long with a couple reachable par 5s and a potentially drivable par 4, it has a great blend of challenging holes that require patience and precision and others that will reward aggressive play,” Nowak said. “It truly is a fun course that seems to play differently every time out.”

Two-time winner of this event, Kevin VandenBerg, will again tee it up in the senior division. VandenBerg, who has been a constant atop the Golfweek National Senior Amateur Rankings for the better part of three years, is coming off top-5 finishes earlier this year at the Golfweek Pacific Northwest Amateur and the Golfweek Senior National Championship.

The Super Senior division features a top player in Bob Beck, an Allentown, Pennsylvania, resident who has topped his respective rankings for most of the season. He is currently ranked second in the Super Senior rankings. James Starnes, a former Super Senior Player of the Year, is also in the field.

Top-ranked Terry Tyson highlights the Legend division and in the Super Legend division, another past champion – top-ranked John Osborne of Vero Beach, Florida – will also tee it up.

Notably, the Mountain Man also features a Master division for players 80 and over. Among the competitors in that division are Jack Marin, the former Duke and NBA player.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: August begins with Golfweek Mountain Man in North Carolina