April 8, 2001

Whether you are Tiger Woods or a 36 handicapper with no headcovers, pre-scuffed Hush Puppy golf shoes and your granddad's pullcart, you are somebody special to Finley's ultra-friendly Director of Golf, Johnny Cake.

"There is one word we try never to use around here and that is `no.'" says Cake. "And if we have to use it, we use it in a friendly way. The other expression I use a lot with my staff is "Bad attitudes are contagious. Don't let anybody catch yours."

Grouchy old men looking for employment as starters, rangers or bag drop people need not apply at Finley. If you can't come up with a big smile and a hello for a total stranger even on your worst day, you and Johnny Cake aren't going to get along very well.

"Our marshals are there to help people and to make their golf experience more enjoyable," Cake explains. "I want my starter greeting folks and telling them about our golf course, and the bag drop job is one of the most important jobs we have out here because that person is the first person the customer comes in contact with."

New facilities, or "start-ups" as they are known in the business, are often as tricky to manage as sidehill 12 footers. So why did Johnny Cake leave his cushy head pro job at the posh Hope Valley Country Club in Durham to come over and run Finley?

"Well, I've been in public (11 plus years at Hillendale) and I've been in private (18 years at Hope Valley) and this was just the right opportunity for me at the right time in my life. In any business, you want to reach the pinnacle of your career and in golf, that's being a Director of Golf.

"I want University of North Carolina golf and Finley to be number one. I love working with John and Sally (Inman and Austin, UNC's men's and women's golf coaches) and in 31 years of being in this business, this is the best staff I've ever been around."

A charter member of the dawn patrol, the sun is never very high in the sky when Cake gets to work.

"Aw, that's just me," he says with a smile. "I can't change that. I want this right. I've got to have hands on. We're still growing our golf course, I'm still learning how a university works, plus I just like being here. Not everybody can wake up in the morning and go to work at a golf course!"

So next time you are in the Southern Part of Heaven, bring your sticks and give the new Finley a try.

And while you are there, stop in and shake the hand of another Carolina difference maker, Johnny Cake, the Director of Golf and one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.