Welcome to the Two Down Press golf newsletter!

Short intro this week as we have to get this newsletter out! Golf has not been top of mind given recent weather in the Carolinas, but there are worse things to do on a snowy weekend than watch Brooks Koepka make his return to the PGA TOUR at Torrey Pines…

Great Golf Holes is BACK with a breakdown of Old Town Club’s challenging par 5 17th - almost an oxymoron in modern golf. We are also diving into the story of Lyle Ciardi, Charlotte resident and creator of the fast-growing Instagram account Feel Golf, before closing with a couple news items from the Pinehurst area. As always, thanks for reading!

GREAT GOLF HOLES

The course at Old Town Club features one of the most unique golf landscapes in the Carolinas. The 17th, a true 3-shot par 5 jam packed with natural hazards and strategic interest, cuts right through the center of the expansive property, culminating with a visit to the club’s famous double green. This hole requires players to both think and execute well in order to earn a chance at a birdie putt, with each shot asking a distinct and interesting question.

There is not a “right” way to play the 17th - instead, players are met with a bevy of options straight from the tee box. The fairway is extremely wide and allows players content to dink their way to the green plenty of room out left. Longer hitters or those that want to force the issue, however, will contend with a fairway that gradually narrows, pinching in between a series of bunkers and the creek that guards the entire right side.

From the elevated tee box, even this ~70 yard corridor can feel narrow on a windy day. The obvious goal is to hit the fairway, but as we’ll see on subsequent shots, taking on the creek and hugging the right side is the optimal play to shorten the hole and make the next shot easier.

The longest hitters can consider going for this green in 2 with the right wind and conditions, but for 99% of people that play this hole, the objective on the layup is to clear the centerline bunker. The real challenge once you get past the bunker, however, is to get your ball to stop in your preferred position.

Past the bunker, the fairway cants hard from left to right, kicking shots toward the creek and another smaller fairway bunker that is hidden from view. This bunker is a magnet for golf balls, but the flat ground directly adjacent is the ideal place to play from, tempting players to risk going in it to gain a level lie.

The angle at which you hit your layup shot significantly impacts the difficulty of traversing the severe slope. Shots from the left side of the fairway will land on more of a downslope, accentuating the kick down to the right. Those played from the preferred right side will hit into the hill, deadening the bounce and roll and giving players more control.

As with most shots in golf, the risk is overdoing it - if you are worried about the hill deflecting your shot down into the creek or bunker, you’re likely to play too far left and risk ending up in the fairway bunkers separating the 8th and 17th holes.

Are you starting to see a theme here? The options and routes to the hole on this behemoth are almost limitless, as are the locations from which you may hit an approach shot. The most common outcomes, however, are either from high on the hill or from the flat ground near the aforementioned bunker.

While the shots from down low are relatively straightforward, those from higher up the slope offer players a true taste of what OTC is all about. The ball will likely be significantly below your feet (for a right-hander) and you’ll be faced with a downhill approach to a pin typically guarded by a tier or knob. Add in the wind, which can whip through this exposed section of the property, and you’re left with one of the most testing <150 yard shots you’ll find in the game.

The fun and challenge certainly don’t end when players reach the putting surface, which is shared with the 8th hole. The green is comprised of a wild set of undulating, sloping internal mounds known as “Maxwell rolls” that start at a high central spine and cascade down to the front edges.

These famous humps-and-bumps often present players with up-and-over putts, requiring deft touch and speed control in order to guarantee a 2-putt. No matter where the pin is located, getting the ball in the hole on 17 feels like an accomplishment, even if it took you 6+ shots to do so.

PRESENTED BY TWILIGHT GOLF CLUB

TGC is a CGA member club that supports equitable access to golf in North Carolina. With an active chapter in Charlotte, it’s a great way to meet other passionate golfers in town and play some competitive golf in a casual setting. Annual dues are $60 per year giving members access to:

Want to get involved? Visit the website for more details.

GOLF BIZ

If your algorithm looks anything like mine, your social feed is in no way short on golf “influencers,” but sometimes a personality or swing finds a way to differentiate from the morass of online content.

This was the experience when I discovered Lyle Ciardi and Feel Golf, as his unique combination of infectious enthusiasm, retro apparel, and obvious golf talent jumped off the screen. While many followers will see his daily tee times and van life escapades as a dream come true (he agrees), there is more to Ciardi than his ear-to-ear smile, and his path to getting where he is today has been winding.

Ciardi's father introduced him to the game early, but at 14 he was the victim of a sexual assault that sent his life into a downward spiral. He had a short stint on a Division II golf team, but quit college golf after a semester and began a battle with drugs and alcohol. “I had something inside of me where I did not want to be serious about anything,” he recalled. “I just wanted to disassociate.”

By age 20, Ciardi found himself sentenced to 15 months in a South Carolina prison after getting into a car accident while on probation. "I thought it was going to be the end of my life," he said. "It turned out it was really just the beginning."

Ciardi re-entered society with a newfound drive and focus. He started hustling - working 80-hour weeks waiting tables at Paula Deen's in Myrtle Beach. Shortly thereafter he returned to Coastal Carolina and graduated with honors, developing the skills he needed to launch into a career in renewable energy. After graduation, he taught himself grant writing and began securing USDA funding for agricultural upgrades, eventually starting his own energy consulting business and closing 7-figure deals.

Golf wasn’t front-and-center during this period of his life, but the game was always in the back of his mind. During COVID, as outdoor recreation options narrowed, golf became impossible to ignore, pulling Ciardi back in the way it did many others. The tipping point was a spontaneous invitation to a golf trip, when a mentor flew Ciardi to Monterey, California to play Spyglass Hill and other previously out-of-reach courses. "I couldn't afford to be there," he admitted.

Around the same time, he discovered Australian golfer Ryan Peak, a junior golf prodigy who spent 5 years in prison before winning the 2025 New Zealand Open and qualifying for the Open Championship. "I was like, OK, the world is healing," he said. "That's when I started Feel Golf."

He launched the Instagram page in July 2025, sharing snippets from his golf adventures and gradually letting his personality shine through. That same week, he spontaneously booked a 3-week European golf adventure to celebrate his 30th birthday. Since then, he's played nearly every day, winding down his consulting business and going all-in on the content game.

To Ciardi, the Feel Golf brand is multifaceted. He’s a self-taught plus-handicap and doesn’t take lessons, but the name goes deeper than his approach to the golf swing. "It’s about feeling golf," he explained. "It’s about the sensation you get when you go to an awesome golf property and say ‘Wow, this is amazing.’"

As he nears 20K Instagram followers, Ciardi is beginning to pursue new golf business ventures and recently launched a new Feel Golf website and online store. In terms of what’s next, he anticipates more of the same for those who have connected with his content, documenting his travels from his homebase in Charlotte’s NoDa neighborhood to great golf destinations throughout the country. "I'm just trying to live as authentic a life as possible," Ciardi said. "Golf's been really good to me, so I'm trying to be really good to golf."

STORIES TO TRACK

Pinehurst Adds New Dining Options Ahead of 2026 Season: Wiregrass, a farm-to-table restaurant, will open this spring in the main clubhouse. The resort also shared plans for a Peter Millar Shop in the Carolina Hotel and updates on construction at Pinehurst No. 11.

Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame Set to Honor 2026 Class: This year’s inductees include longtime Carolinas Golf Association Executive Director Jack Nance, who spent 40+ years with the CGA, and Robert Dedman Jr., who’s family has owned Pinehurst Resort since 1984. Dedman’s father, Robert Dedman Sr., is also being honored posthumously for his “extraordinary stewardship” of the resort, which he acquired during a serious financial decline.

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