Here’s Calvin Brown during Providence Grove’s 2022 game at Asheboro (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
ASHEBORO – Calvin Brown will try to get Asheboro’s football program back on a winning path.
Brown is leaving Providence Grove, where he directed sustained success, to become coach of the Blue Comets.
Brown’s Providence Grove teams were 42-34 in seven seasons. He guided the Patriots to their first postseason football victory in school history earlier this fall as part of an 8-4 record.
Brown takes the position held by Blake Brewer, a former Asheboro quarterback whose three-season record was 2-25 as head coach. The Blue Comets were 1-9 each of the past two seasons.
Providence Grove defeated Asheboro 28-14 and 49-0 the past two seasons.
It could be quite a project for Brown. Asheboro is a combined 7-52 in the last six seasons.
Brown was also athletics director at Providence Grove. He won’t hold those responsibilities at Asheboro, where such a dual role isn’t permitted.
Providence Grove’s eight wins matched the most in program history. The Patriots went 8-4 in 2019 and 8-3 in 2021.
Providence Grove lost to eventual Class 2-A runner-up Reidsville, a team it has never defeated in six all-time meetings, in the second round.
Not only will Providence Grove also have a new coach in 2023, it could be a rebuilding period for the Patriots. There were 22 seniors on this year’s team.
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Calvin Brown’s coaching record at Providence Grove
ASHEBORO — The Randolph County Board of Commissioners met Monday, where the board had select members resworn in and updates on various county projects were provided.
Commissioners Darrell Frye, David Allen, and Hope Haywood – all of whom won reelection back in November – were resworn into their positions. Following that, the board also voted to reappoint Frye as the chairman of the board and Allen as the vice chair.
Other positions that were voted in were the reappointment of Ben Morgan as the county attorney, Dana Crisco as clerk to the board, and Sarah Pack as deputy clerk to the board.
The other board representative positions were all reappointed en masse, the only difference being a change to the representative to the Animal Services Advisory Board. Both Frye and Allen served on it as a newly formed board, but moving forward, only Allen will continue those duties.
The board was then briefed on a potential partnership between the health department and Kintegra Family Dentistry.
“The health department has provided much-needed dental services for many, many years,” said Public Health Director Tara Aker. “Probably for the last six to eight years, though, we’ve had difficulty finding full-time dentists. There’s just not enough dentists to go around, and a public health department has a really hard time recruiting and retaining a dentist because we just can’t compete with a private practice.”
According to Aker, Randolph County has been unable to recruit and retain a dentist on staff and so to help meet demand, they have decided to partner with Kintegra Family Dentistry.
“Our plan is for Kintegra Family Dental, which is a part of a federally qualified health center, to come into our health department, and they will be taking over our dental clinic and providing staff and equipment to continue the services that are needed here in the county,” Aker said.
“The key is partnership,” said Kintegra Family Dentistry Chief Dental Officer Dr. William Donigan. “Kintegra is the largest federally qualified health center in the state of North Carolina. Our dental program last year saw 35,000 patient visits. Our school-based learning program is the largest in the state, and last year, with two mobile units, we saw over 6,000 children in the schools. We have seven fixed brick-and-mortar sites, and now we’ve added a third mobile dental unit. And we just purchased, for Randolph County, a three-chair mobile dentistry unit because we want to get into those schools where we can help reach them. The purpose of the whole partnership is to serve the people of Randolph County.”
According to Aker, the estimated go date for the restart of the county dental services with Kintegra is February 1.
The board was also given an update on the historic courthouse museum project.
As the design stage of the project started, the scope of it began to increase with a focus on the additions of improved accessibility in and out, improved egress from the building, replacement of outdated building systems, and addressing water intrusion in the basement, according to Hobbs Architects Principal and Architect Chevon Moore.
According to Moore, while the last estimate was $2.88 million, additions to the project and inflation have affected the price estimate, bringing the estimated total project cost up to $3.44 million. Moore also said that construction is projected to begin in early May, with a construction schedule of 12 months.
“This is not what we would say in any typical time,” Moore said. “We would think in a typical time, this would be more along the lines of nine months for this construction scope, but given the lead times for particular items, we would recommend assuming a 12-month schedule.”
The board also held the public hearings for the third set of fire district restructurings to remove the 15-cent tax cap from them.
“Many of our current fire protection tax districts still have a 15-cent cap,” said Associate County Attorney Aimee Scotton. “You have moved forward on eliminating that cap for several districts, and this is our third group. At your October meeting, you officially considered moving forward to abolish the currently capped county service districts for fire protection for Bennett, Seagrove, Southwest, and Ulah and replacing them with districts that do not have a cap on taxation. The proposed new service districts contain the exact same properties that are currently contained in the capped districts that they would be replacing.”
“This is not a tax increase. It simply gives the ability for these departments to ask for taxes in excess of 15 cents, but any request would still come before the board as they always do for any other manner.”
The board approved the restructuring of each of the four districts and the Building Reuse Grant for Mid-State Trailers.
“Mid-State Trailers was recently acquired back in the spring by ITZ, Inc., who will continue to do business as Mid-State Trailers,” said Economic Development Corporation Business Recruitment Director Crystal Gettys. “ITZ took over the manufacturing of trailers from Mid-State, and they will be adding their own Handy Ramp line to the production.”
“The company anticipates investing $527,829 in property and will be creating 19 new jobs paying an average wage of $46,967. This is well above our current average wage for Randolph County. The company is seeking and qualifies for a Reuse grant in the amount of $100,000. There is no anticipated match for Randolph County; however, the company investment certainly covers the traditional 5% that used to be required.”
Finally, the board approved the formation of an Executive Committee of Opioid Settlement Funding and appointed the Juvenile Day Reporting Center director, DSS director, Randolph County Emergency Management chief, the Adult Day Reporting Center director, Sandhills representative, Sheriff’s Office representative, assistant health director, and health director as voting members of the committee, with the county manager as an ex officio member.
The Randolph County Board of Commissioners will next meet January 2.
Frazier had three strong outings for the Patriots, who went 2-1 in those games.
Frazier’s impactful week started with 19 points in the 50-34 victory against visiting East Davidson.
By scoring 17 points, the senior guard had more than half of the Patriots’ points in a 38-32 road loss to Southern Guilford.
Frazier capped the week with 19 points in a 49-43 triumph against Asheboro.
Through four games this season, Frazier had a scoring average of 17.3 points per game. She also shared the team rebounding lead with Asia Steverson with 7.3 per outing.
Top to bottom: Santa Claus rides on the back of a motorcycle down N.C. 65 as he leads Randolph County’s 36th annual CBA Toy Run; Riders with Randolph County’s 36th annual CBA Toy Run fill N.C. 64 as they make their way toward Lexington; Marian Clark (front), Kisha Shelton (middle), and Judy Wamsley (back) watch and wave as riders pass by.
Tot Hill Farm Golf Club has become a course that attracts golfers from a wide area. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
ASHEBORO – It was more than a foursome, but it was a partnership that worked so well that breaking up was hard to do.
But Ogburn Yates, whose family has owned the land for more than 80 years, said it had come time for Tot Hill Farm Golf Club to be sold.
“It has been an interesting run,” said Ogburn Yates, 88, a member of the ownership group. “Very glad we did it and took part in a project that turned out like this. Forming this group and doing this for so long, it was subject to much prayer.”
The sale of the 18-hole layout became official last week, sold to Pat Barber of Charleston, S.C. He owns two courses – The Links at Stono Ferry and The Plantation Course at Edisto – in the Charleston area.
For the local partners and investors, it played out to a satisfactory conclusion amid all the ups and downs of owning and operating a golf club.
“On a project like this, everything has to work out,” Yates said. “The remarkable thing about this is the partners all stuck together.”
The core of the partners included Yates, C.C. Pharr, Delbert Cranford, Maxton McDowell, Jack Lail, former Asheboro mayor David Jarrell, Sam Gruber, Hi Marziano, Henry Yates (Ogburn’s son) and Tony Cranford (Delbert’s brother). Deceased partners included Keith Crisco, Bill Hoover and Mack Priest.
For many of the recent years, Pharr was credited with steering the group in the right direction as vice president and managing partner.
Here’s an overview of one of the hole layouts of Asheboro’s Tot Hill Farm Golf Club. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
The property had been in the Yates family since it was purchased in 1943. It was used for cattle well before it became a development. Yates said in the late 1990s when plans were put in place, family members didn’t want to sell the property because there were too many memories.
They also didn’t want it to sit idle.
“At that point, golf was booming in the late ‘90s,” he said. “We discussed it and decided to develop it. A lot of this was prayer,” Yates said.
Partners were needed to assist in the financing. The course opened in May 2000.
A vision becomes reality
The course came to fruition under the design work of the late Mike Strantz.
That was part of the appeal to Barber.
“There are only six Mike Strantz designs the public can play and when I heard the course was for sale my interest piqued quickly,” Barber said. “I love a good restoration and we want to return Tot Hill Farm back to Mike’s original vision for the golf experience here.”
According to information from Barber’s management group, an upcoming restoration will come in stages. Priorities are to improve areas around greens and tee boxes, repair cart path damage, repair several bridges, build on-course restrooms and update the clubhouse.
Strantz’s background included time with famed designer Tom Fazio. Strantz designed nine golf courses before his death at age 50.
In the late 1990s, he seemed to be the right choice to design the course, even living on the property during that phase.
“It was just farmland and woods,” Yates said. “He built a resort course in Asheboro.”
The course became known for its stunning views and challenging golf.
Decision to sell
The golf business has had ebbs and flows during the past couple of decades. Even after the terrorist attacks in 2001, Tot Hill Farm Golf Club was so new that it drew interest. That part of the business held up well until the economic downturn in 2008.
The partners leased Tot Hill Golf Club in 2015, but that turned out to be short term before the group returned to oversee operations. The ownership group took a certain pride in that the course never closed.
The partners in that group understood that it would be best to find another owner.
Ogburn Yates’ family owned the farmland where the golf course was built. (Bob Sutton/Randolph Record)
“Maybe it’s time to let it go,” Yates said. “All the partners were in their 70s and 80s.”
It went on the market by 2018. There were five serious prospects along the way, but nothing panned out. Then Barber came along.
“He was the right guy,” Yates said. “I was never worried about it. Nobody likes to wait, especially at this stage of life.”
It’s a high-end course, with greens fees at about $70.
There have been various challenges. Last January, a maintenance building was destroyed by fire.
It’s more than a local course, with golfers often coming from a 100-mile radius. There also are plenty of out-of-state golfers, making Tot Hill Farm Golf Club a stop on trips to or from Pinehurst.
There are about 50 homes around the course as part of the development. Barber is scheduled to meet with home owners Saturday.
Yates, who operated a Belk franchise in Asheboro, lives in the development off the 10th hole.
“It’s a beautiful facility and has been great for the county,” Yates said. “Tot Hill Farm is in great hands. The future is very bright.”
Tyshaun Goldston of Randleman dunks against Lexington during one of his big games last week. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
TRINITY – It was another big week for Trinity guard Dominic Payne.
He racked up 32 points in a 66-53 victory at Jordan-Matthews. That was just the appetizer. He scored 27 points in a 61-45 victory against visiting North Carolina Leadership Academy. Then he finished the week in style by going for 42 points when the Bulldogs defeated host East Rowan 82-68.
Payne wasn’t the only big scorer during the week for Trinity.
Autumn Gentry poured in 33 points to go with 11 rebounds and Kennedy Jackson pumped in 26 points in a 61-44 victory against East Rowan for the girls’ team.
Randleman’s Tyshaun Goldston had a big week as well.
It began with 21 points in a 67-47 romp past visiting Ledford. His basket off a steal provided the winning points in a 56-54 victory against visiting Union Pines. The Tigers lost 59-56 at Oak Grove despite Goldston’s 25 points.
On the girls’ side, Eastern Randolph’s Brecken Snotherly supplied 31 points in a 58-49 home loss to Western Alamance.
Wrestling
At Millers Creek, with three individual champions, Wheatmore’s team was the runner-up in the eight-team C.H. Necessary Invitational at West Wilkes.
Trey Swaney (132 pounds), Dominic Hittepole (160) and Zechariah Starkweather (170) were the champions for Wheatmore. Renato Barron (220) of the Warriors placed second.
West Wilkes won the title with 169 points and Wheatmore was next with 135.
Joey Smith of Trinity won the 220-pound weight class in the 20-team Mount Pleasant Invitational.
Smith defeated Alex Lahners of Cannon School in the final with a first-period pin. Smith notched two pins and two decisions by shutouts in the tournament.
Trinity’s Brayden Hall (113), Spencer May (120) and Gavin Hardister (182) all placed third.
Southwestern Randolph’s Erick Lopez (160) was fourth.
Trinity was seventh in the team standings and Southwestern Randolph was 15th.
Ashton Troutman of Uwharrie Charter Academy goes up for a shot against Trinity last season. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record).
ASHEBORO – Ashton Troutman returned to the Uwharrie Charter Academy boys’ basketball team and pretty much picked up where he left off.
After spending a few months as a transfer at The Burlington School, Troutman decided to finish his high school career where it began.
“It was just a lot (of reasons), nothing basketball related,” Troutman said of coming back to UCA. “I just had a good three years at Uwharrie and I missed what was going on. I was missing my home and my family.”
In his fourth game this season, Troutman reached a milestone. He scored his 1,000th career point Friday night in an 83-64 loss at Richmond County. The milestone basket – a contested layup in traffic – was part of his 34-point outburst.
Troutman, a 6-foot-8 post player, was the centerpiece of UCA’s Piedmont Athletic Conference Tournament championship last season. His return could shake up the PAC’s projected pecking order, though he’s the only returning starter for the Eagles.
He transferred to TBS, which is the two-time defending Class 2-A state champion in the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association, in an effort to expand his exposure and see a different level of competition. TBS school plays a schedule with national flavor.
Here’s Ashton Troutman dunking during last February’s PAC Tournament championship game against Providence Grove. (PJ Ward-Brown/Randolph Record)
Troutman was involved in fall competitions with TBS, but his return to UCA came before official games and thus his eligibility wasn’t affected.
Troutman, already the school-record holder for points, had 15 points in the Eagles’ season-opening 77-33 loss to visiting Chatham Charter. Three days later, he poured in 32 points – all in the first half — in an 85-37 romp past Bethany Community. He racked up 24 points in a 45-33 loss last week at Southern Guilford.
Troutman had planned to commute from his Asheboro home to Burlington, but that became too taxing and he began living with a family of another TBS player.
“I just got tired of living up there,” he said.
On the court at TBS, which sometimes has college coaches and scouts representing recruiting services attend practices, Troutman was part of a low post pairing with highly regarded Ty Outlaw.
“I was in the starting lineup,” Troutman said. “I had gotten a lot better with all the workouts. We just made each other better.”
He has been recruited by a variety of colleges. Some of the exposure might wane, but college coaching staffs will know where to find him.
“I was getting the looks I wanted,” he said of his time in the TBS program. “It’s a risk (coming back to UCA) that I’m willing to take.”
Troutman, who averaged 20.9 points and 10 rebounds per game last season, said his relationship with UCA coach Brad Monroe, who has been with the Eagles throughout the player’s career, remained strong even with the brief transfer. He said the coach has been supportive of each move.
“He has always got the best out of me,” Troutman said.
The Eagles will need plenty from their senior standout, who faces double- and triple-team defensive tactics.
“It’s a lot like last year,” he said. “We’ve got a couple shooters. I know how to get others involved.”
The 1,000-point plateau was a nice marker, something he had considered for several years. He has been UCA’s leading scorer in each of the last three seasons.
“Since my freshman year, when I realized I could put up points like I could, I knew I really would like to do that,” he said of the 1,000 points.
Troutman’s scoring numbers would be higher if not for the COVID-reduced schedule in his sophomore year and missing three games with an injury last season
SOPHIA – The 36th edition of Caraway Speedway’s Thanksgiving Classic has been postponed for about two months.
Last Sunday’s version of the event was called off because of expected rainy weather.
So Russell Hackett’s Original Thanksgiving Classic has been moved to Jan. 29. Afternoon races will be scheduled for UCARs, Mini Stocks, Street Stocks, Late Models, Challengers, Bootleggers and Enduros.
“We are dealing with a special event with this race,” track owner Darren Hackett said. “Russell Hackett’s Thanksgiving Classic has been a staple of the Caraway Speedway schedule for 35 years and we don’t want to break the season-ending tradition of giving the racers who support us throughout the regular season, one last chance to race. With that said, we have decided to make that ‘last chance’ the ‘first chance’ for 2023. With so many tracks starting early, we decided to join the crowd and give our teams the chance to race early in the year,”
The speedway’s annual rules meetings and open practice already on the schedule remained as scheduled Saturday.
January kicks off with a “336 Meets” event Jan. 7. The Caraway Speedway awards banquet is set for Jan. 14 at the track.
