University of North Carolina Athletics
Finley Golf Course Roots In Notre Dame Series
October 6, 2008 | Football
Oct. 6, 2008
Albert Earle Finley began a construction equipment business in Raleigh in 1931, and nearly two decades later it had grown into the largest distributorship in the United States. Finley was also an avid golfer and sports fan, and as the Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice-led North Carolina team prepared to face Notre Dame in New York's Yankee Stadium in November 1949, Finley thought it would be fun to attend the game himself. So he called the Tar Heel ticket office but was told there were no tickets available. "Surely there are tickets somewhere," Finley countered.
Finley contacted the university's athletic director, Chuck Erickson, who explained that hard-to-get tickets went to the university's most generous financial boosters. "If you need some money, let's talk," Finley said.
Erickson, who doubled as the Tar Heels' golf coach, told Finley that the university had built a nine-hole course during World War II with labor from the Navy Pre-Flight. They had the land for nine more and wanted to upgrade the original holes and build a second nine.
A deal was struck: Finley agreed to pay for the services of George Cobb to design the course and for construction costs. And he got his tickets to the Carolina-Notre Dame game, won, incidentally, by the Fighting Irish 42-6 as Justice watched from the bench with an ankle injury.
The new layout opened in 1950 and was named in Finley's honor. The course remains today UNC-Finley Golf Course, though it was completely redesigned by Tom Fazio in 1999. Fazio took the land and some of the corridors of the original course, carved new holes from the woods and created a modern course that is scenic, interesting to play and, most notably, bestowed with excellent irrigation that allows the low-lying site to drain quickly following rain.
- Lee Pace, Carolinas Golf Magazine
