Until last year, longtime golfer Bob Adams walked the entire course at Country Club of Asheville. Now he only walks the front side, which is still quite a feat, considering he just celebrated his 91st birthday and is out on the green four to five times a week.
Adams is more than a familiar face at the club. A member for 55 years, he’s held various leadership positions. He’s served as a board member and club president, during which time he maneuvered the sale that moved the club from The Grove Park Inn to its current stunning location in north Asheville. He’s participated in more than 50 member-guest tournaments, and he and Margaret (Peggy), his wife of 67 years, even have a house on the 18th fairway.
“I used to be pretty good, but now I shoot in the middle 80s,” says Adams, who holds 20 aces and has shot his age almost two thousand times. “Last Sunday I shot 79.”
Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Adams attended the University of Alabama, and after graduation pursued a career in industrial engineering. Work took Adams and his family (he’s a father of six) from Pennsylvania to Florida, and eventually Asheville, where they settled in 1967. Though he played golf sporadically before, his game truly took off when he joined Country Club of Asheville, especially when he retired in 1991.
“When we were having kids, I didn’t have a lot of time for golf,” Adams says. “I played once a month, maybe. But then I got decent at it, and started playing in the single digits.”
As Adams talks about the highlights of his golfing tenure, it becomes clear he’s a competitive player who still enjoys the technical challenges of the game. He’ll never forget the day he shot his age for the first time at 67. Or when he won the club championship on his 60th birthday. And most importantly, he’ll never forget April 27 of this year, the day he finally aced hole No. 17, the longest par 3 on the course and the final step
in fulfilling his quest to eagle on all 18 holes.
But the special moments aren’t just on the green. “Bob is one of about six members that still play gin rummy in the Men’s Card Room,” says Debbie Ponder, Country Club of Asheville’s membership director. “It was standing room only in the Men’s Card for many years. Now attendance has dwindled to an occasional 4-top, but he still shows up for gin rummy with his long-time friends.”
Though many of his golfing buddies throughout the years have passed on, Adams speaks fondly of The Connor Group, a competitive crew that plays together four days a week.
“This group of men are a fun, warm and talented bunch that keeps me and all the others coming back again and again to enjoy the competition and the fellowship,” Adams says.
When talking about Adams, Ponder considers him synonymous with Country Club of Asheville. But perhaps Bob Adams is also synonymous with the untold golfing greats, the everyday players who’ve spent a lifetime trying to best the game and still enjoy the battle. Because odds are, this great grandfather, devoted husband, and passionate golfer, will be out on the green as long as he’s able.
