Winston Lake Golf Course celebrated by the golfers who call it home

Winston Lake Golf Course opened on June 16, 1956, and was built for Winston-Salem’s Black residents. Before that, African Americans were allowed to access the city’s public course just once a week.

Nearly 70 years later, Winston Lake was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. But that recognition has been felt in the Black community for generations. 

WFDD’s David Ford spoke with two avid golfers about what Winston Lake means to them. Harden "Butch" Wheeler served in the U.S. Navy and worked for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools for 24 years before retiring. Tim Grant is also retired. He’s the former recreational parks director for the City of Winston-Salem.   

Interview highlights:

BW: Everybody calls me Butch. And I've been associated probably with this golf course for 50 years, ever since they started. And, you know, I started off coming out, watching guys play, and people assisted me and gave me clubs and all kinds of things. And I became interested in it. And once I got near the retirement age, I couldn't wait to retire...It's a great experience being here with these guys. A lot of history here, you know, like, this was the first all-Black golf course here, and it started off as a nine-hole course. And we used to have a lot of championship Black golf matches out here called the Chitlin Circuit. We used to have golf matches here, where people would park here, and all up and down 311 cars would be parked all down through the park. You couldn't even get in here. We had guys like Chuck Thorpe, Jim Dent, Nate Starks, Charlie Sifford, Bobby Strobel. Michael Jordan came out here a few times trying to hustle [laughs].

TG: It is about golf, but at the same time, it's about fellowship and friendship. And there are a lot of good friendships that have been made here. A lot of new friendships. This is probably the most diverse course in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County. You get all different nationalities playing here, and it's always been very welcoming. You know, this golf course has a lot of history ... It was inducted into the National Black Golf Hall of Fame, and it's just a great place to play. When I first started playing golf out here, 1988, I was so frustrated the first time, I was going to quit. But the guys I played with took me to their car, gave me two dozen golf balls, gave me a sand wedge, and they just kept me interested. And so, you know, this is truly the home of golf here in Forsyth County. Now it's a tough golf course too, but it's a golf course that if you can play here with these blind shots into the green, blind tee shots. And if you can play here, you can play anywhere in the world.

BW: Winston Lake is my home. You know, before you got here, we were all sitting around in here, joking around and having, I mean, just we were home. And most of the time we'd be here, Papa Lee would be open, and we'd be eating chicken wings, and television would be on, and we'd be talking about everything. We play cards here, play — do everything here. We're home. You know, when you leave home, this is where you come.

TG: You know, it's more than a golf course. It's a place where people can come and relax, can get away from the stressful things in life, and just be themselves. It's always been a very welcoming environment. When I started playing golf, I was much younger, and so I hung with, you know, a lot of the older guys, and this is a place where a lot of the older guys develop friendships with younger guys that have just started playing. And I think that's something that's real special. It's a family atmosphere, and it's one that I was looking forward to retirement and being able to come here and play every day, and I've really enjoyed it.