The hotel: Main lobby today remains an updated oasis of serenity and warmth
growing up bell … “Our house was the place to be,” Bonnie Bell McGowan says. They frolicked under the sprinklers, used pine straw bales to construct forts. “We had great cart races in the woods. Sure, we hit a few trees … and who put that cart in the pond?” Ma Bell smiles: “I spoiled them rotten.” But everybody worked: “I was digging ditches at 13,” Kirk says. Later, he caddied for mom at Northridge, proudly announcing (despite her warnings not to “wise-off”), “My mother’s Peggy Kirk Bell.” Bullet came home to eat with the children every night, then dressed and returned to the lodge until closing. He often made beds and even mopped floors. Among guests, Bullet became known for being a snappy dresser, favoring suede jackets and monogrammed shirts. “I’m doing all this for you and the kids,” he told his wife, who seriously took up teaching about that time. The Bell children went to different schools but brought friends home for après-football parties. They were especially popular during the summer: By then, the club had a pool and tennis courts. “My friends are kicking themselves that they had the opportunity to learn (golf) from my mom,” Bonnie continues. The garage housed 20 sets of clubs. “When Mom was teaching we’d go down and swat the ball around,” Peggy Ann Miller recalls.
Opting out wasn’t an option. “They all had to learn,” their mother adds. “When you’re young, it’s tough having a parent teach you. She’s just Mom, not your teacher. But they all went on to play on college teams.” The grandchildren are coming along quite nicely in the sport.
Working mom… “When we were growing up, moms stayed home and dads went to the office,” Bonnie says. Not so at Pine Needles, a glorious version of living over the store. This changed during the summers Peggy Bell joined the fledgling LPGA Tour. Road trips! “I took the kids and a nanny with me when I went to tournaments,” Bell says. She drove a big Cortez trailer-bus, which needed explaining. “We got stopped by the police who said you’re not allowed to drive a truck on this highway. I had to show him our license.” Bonnie, Peggy Ann and Kirk remember being the only three children on the tour, running around locker rooms with famous women players. But that was normal. They wanted excitement. They wanted a monkey. The nanny was persuaded to buy not one but two spider monkeys, who proceeded to wreak havoc on the trailer. Bell grimaces, remembering. The monkeys made it back to Southern Pines where they were relocated in favor of corgis, which became the family’s signature breed.
PineStraw : The Art & Soul of the Sandhills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . November 2011
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