CLARENCE ROSE

 

            Rose, 65, was born and grew up in Goldsboro. Baseball was his first love, but he developed knee problems as a youth league catcher and started playing golf at age 12. 

He won his first junior title at age 14 and played golf at Mount Olive Junior College, leading the team to the Junior College National Finals in 1977 and then winning the 1978 N.C. Amateur. He transferred to Clemson, played for the Tigers and made All-America in 1979. 

            A fourth-place finish in the 1981 PGA Tour Q-School in the spring of 1981 earned him a spot on the PGA Tour. He made 16 cuts in 27 events in his first full year of 1982 and proceeded throughout the 1980s to play solid golf, winning nearly a quarter of a million dollars in both 1988 and ‘89, with six runner-up finishes in the 1980s.

            Rose took what was essentially a three-year break from competitive golf from 1992-94 to tend to his family, which included wife Jan and young children Clark and Allison. Clark was diagnosed with testicular cancer at 20 months and required surgery. He made a full recovery and went on to play college golf and become a PGA professional, and that personal trauma led Rose to establish the Clarence Rose Foundation to assist needy children in Goldsboro. 

            Rose ventured back into pro golf in 1995 on what was then known as the Nike Tour, winning the Pensacola Classic in 1995. That set him up to snare his one PGA Tour victory when he sank a 30-foot eagle putt on the third playoff hole to beat Brad Faxon at Castle Pines in Colorado in 1996. He played two more years full-time and shut down his playing career in the late 1990s with more than $2.5 winnings and 29 career Top 10 finishes. 

            Rose has been the head pro at Walnut Creek Country Club in Goldsboro since 2010. He works with his son, Clark. 

            “Clark’s the Class A pro, I’m the cart boy,” Rose jokes. “Seriously, I’ve enjoyed it. It’s totally different. This is the first job I’ve had, other than playing golf. I’m in the service arena now instead of being served. On the pro golf tour, everyone takes care of what you need. That’s my job now. It’s fun and we have a great membership.

            “It’s pretty special to get into any hall of fame, but being from North Carolina, to get in the Carolinas Hall of Fame is quite an honor. There are some great golfers in there. We have a great membership here at Walnut Creek, and I’m very honored they thought to nominate me.”

            Rose’s amicable nature, teaching skills and organization abilities have endured him to Walnut Creek members. He proudly displays in his office a photograph of an eight-year-old Ella Jane Hannant, a Walnut Creek member waving her hand and holding her trophy from the 2018 Drive Chip and Putt Championship at Augusta National. 

            “Clarence is the hardest working, most hands-on golf professional I have worked with in more than 30 years at Walnut Creek,” former club president Ken Ritt said. “He brought a renewed enthusiasm to our golf program and a professional quality to our pro shop and staff.”

            “He is a wonderful ambassador for the game who is dedicated to its growth while also supporting his community and many deserving charities,” Jack Nicklaus said. 

            Author Jim Dodson knew Rose from their respective days writing about and playing on the PGA Tour in the 1980s, and Dodson spoke at a fundraising dinner in Goldsboro in 2015, where he reconnected with Rose and met a number of Walnut Creek members.

            “His enthusiasm for his work as a club professional was first rate and a delight to behold,” Dodson said. “His members all seemed to know him on a first-name basis and spoke glowingly of his service to the club and local community. Everyone seemed to love this guy have an affectionate Clarence Rose story to tell.”