View from the Judy Rankin reflects on golf, the Bells and Pine Needles By Ron Green Jr.
J
udy Rankin is on the road again, making the familiar 117-mile drive from her home in Lubbock, Texas, where she is near her children, to her other home in Midland, Texas, where she lived for many years. That’s why when you ask Rankin where she lives, she says, “I wish I knew.” One thing helps the miles roll away: an apple fritter and a cup of black coffee. “I love apple fritters. You know how everyone loves Krispy Kreme doughnuts? Well, I love apple fritters,” Rankin says over the phone, having secured her morning snack for the ride. Rankin, 77, is an elemental thread in the fabric of American golf, her success as a player followed by a nearly 40-year broadcasting career, setting her apart in a game made better by her contributions. Through grit and grace, Rankin had a Hall of Fame playing career, then enhanced it through her television work, sharing the gospel of golf in her comfortable and enlightening way. When the U.S. Women’s Open is played in early June at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club, part of what the championship has become is because of Rankin and what she has done for the game. She is a living example of leaving something (in this case, golf) better than she found it. Rankin also has a history with Pine Needles, which is hosting its fourth Women’s Open, but that doesn’t make her unusual. Almost everyone who came across the late, great Peggy Kirk Bell and her husband, Warren “Bullet” Bell, were left with a piece of the place and its people. Pine Needles is not just a destination, it’s a state of mind. That’s the lingering influence of Bell and her husband, an enduring legacy embraced and nurtured by their children and their families. “There was something about Peggy,” Rankin says. “She was a magnet with people. There was a way about her. “She was never a big, affectionate hugger, but she was affectionate in her way. I don’t know how you couldn’t like Peggy. She was such a wonderful role model for so many different things in the game. I admired her a lot.” Whether Bell was cruising through the pine-shrouded streets in her authentic London taxi, her 1928 Model A convertible or
88
PineStraw
Tower
her 1964 Lincoln Continental — just to name a few — or giving impromptu lessons to guests having a meal at Pine Needles (Bell often wore a golf glove inside to make a teaching point), she was a force of nature, and the Women’s Opens played at Pine Needles are a nod to her as much as they are to the Donald Ross design hosting the championship. Bell’s only major championship victory came in the 1949 Titleholders, a tournament that was played for the final time in 1972 — at Pine Needles. Sandra Palmer beat Rankin and Mickey Wright, and the memory remains with Rankin. “I think Bullet had it in for us because they made us play from so far back,” Rankin says. “The golf course was so long. That’s what I mostly remember. We swore on the 18th tee he had the markers back so far that your right foot was on a downslope. That became part of the lore.” Rankin was an exceptional player, earning low amateur honors as a 15-year-old in the 1960 U.S. Women’s Open and a year later landing on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. The Art & Soul of the Sandhills
