An important part of the history of Coharie Country Club passed on November 24, 2021. On this day Joe Maples died in Wilkes County. Who is Joe Maples and what is his significance? Joe was the son of Ellis Maples, the architect who designed the nine holes of Coharie when the course opened in 1947. Joe attended Edwards Military Institute in nearby Salemburg. During the summer of that year he stayed in Clinton with his father (in the home of F.L. Turlington) helping out as Coharie was designed and the land was cleared. Joe then went on and enjoyed his own iconic career in the golf world. He was a member for over 60 years of both the PGA as well as the Golf Course Superintendents Association, including over three decades as the golf professional at Boone Golf Club. While attending a reunion of EMI graduates in Salemburg several years ago, Joe drove over to see Coharie. As he was quietly standing in the pro shop, no one knowing who he was, he was approached by Bob Yow who asked if he needed any assistance. What ensued was a lengthy conversation about himself, his father, and that summer in 1947. Included was Joe’s nugget of information that Coharie was not only designed by his father, but that it was his first design. He said his father had been involved in some previous renovations or completions of designs others had started, but they were not original as was Coharie. There had been some speculation about this historical footnote, but there had been difficulty in confirming it.

Joe clearly did so. A few years later someone contended that Coharie was not the first course designed by Ellis Maples. Bob tracked down Joe at his home in Wilkes County to again ask about Coharie being the initial design. Once more Joe confirmed it. As to the confusion, Joe explained that Coharie was designed a few years before his father even opened his renowned design company; and that a review of that company’s designs would not likely include Coharie. He additionally said that some of the renovations or completions that had been claimed as designs were not original like Coharie. The land presented to Ellis Maples that summer was farm land and woods without any hint of a golf course. Ellis indeed designed it from scratch. Joe stated emphatically: “Trust me! I know what I’m talking about.” So without a happenstance conversation with a quiet visitor standing in the pro shop, Coharie would never have been able to proudly assert itself as the first original design of Ellis Maples. Thank you, Joe, for cementing some of Coharie’s historical legacy…and rest in peace.