Carey Pittman found Atlantic Christian (now Barton College) thanks to his best friend, Bill Shearin. The two played golf together in high school (Scotland Neck) and it was Shearin who convinced Pittman to come to ACC and try out for the team, believing he was good enough to make the squad.
Pittman, who finished fifth in the high school state tournament as a senior in 1971, believed that gave him confidence to contact Atlantic Christian about the men’s golf team.
“They got me in touch with Ed Cloyd (then-ACC Head Coach),” said Pittman. “I played a round of golf with the Bulldogs’ golf team and Coach asked if I wanted to come to Atlantic Christian.”
“I was the youngest player – a freshman – on a squad with four players who were Vietnam veterans and married,” said Pittman, with regards to the squad’s make-up as a freshman and sophomore in 1972 and 1973. “They accepted me even though I was a kid and they were mature adults.”
“It could have gone a different way but I was happy to be part of a team having the same goal,” added Pittman.
Those early years helped build him into the team’s captain as a junior and senior in 1974 and 1975. “My junior year we started with all new players. No one knew anyone. We all did our own thing, but we all enjoyed each other and built a championship team.”
Those championships included the 1974 NAIA District and the 1975 Conference Carolinas Tournament where Pittman was the individual medalist both years. In addition, the 1974 team qualified for the NAIA National Championship in South Dakota.
There were a couple of valuable lessons Pittman learned in his early years with the Bulldogs. “When I was a freshman, I had to qualify for the top six to play in the first match. I failed to qualify for that first match.”
Adding insult to injury. “The team we were playing against had two young men on the team that I had played football and golf against in high school and beat! I felt humiliated.”
As Pittman tells it: “The next day I qualified to go to High Point. We arrived and the match was rained out. We stayed overnight, unprepared. It was a wet, windy day and I was playing on a golf course I have never seen before. I birdied the first hole and bogeyed the last hole for a score of 74 and was the low score for both teams! I never missed qualifying for a match again!
Pittman finished sixth as a freshman at the District 29 Tournament before capturing runner-up as a sophomore in 1973 which led to his breakout campaigns the final two years.
Pittman, a native of Tarboro, N.C., who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, is quick to point out his Hall of Fame induction is all about team.
“When I think of the Barton College Athletics Hall of Fame, I think of the championships the seven of us won together,” said Pittman.
Pittman is also quick to think of others. “The 71 that Phil Fogers shot in the first round is what I remember which won the District 29 Championship and stopped Campbell College’s domination of the district. I still think of the 70 Leigh Taylor shot to make the jump ahead of Elon College’s domination of the Carolinas Conference.
“I grew up playing team sports and everyone makes a difference and helps make you who you are,” concluded Pittman.
Pittman is now a husband, father and grandfather who works as the Owner Operator of the Double Oaks Golf Course in Commerce, Ga., a position he has held since 2008.
In addition, Pittman has also been a Class A Member of The Professional Golfers Association of America since 1983. The family includes a wife, three daughters, three grandsons, three granddaughters and three great-grandsons.
Pittman is also quick to spread the wealth around in acknowledging those who helped him. “I don’t just have one person. I have learned from or was taught things from a handful of different people – coaches, pastors, my wife, salesmen, friends, teammates, parents – heck, even a nine-year old boy taught me to ask questions! Finally, thank you Mike, Sid and Turtle!”
Pittman also said Atlantic Christian also wanted him to succeed as a student just as much as a golfer.
“What a great feeling it will be to stand with so many great athletes and great people before and after me!” said Pittman, said regarding the induction ceremony.
