Bobby Orr: At Home at Balsam Mountain Preserve

For Hockey’s Legendary No. 4, Golf is Now No. 1

There’s a bronze statue on Causeway Street in Boston, just steps from TD Garden, that shows Superman in full flight. Not the guy with a big S emblazoned on his chest, but one wearing the spoked-B sweater of the city’s beloved Bruins. It commemorates Bobby Orr’s 1970 Stanley Cup-winning overtime goal, when the famed No. 4, the defenseman who revolutionized his sport, caught a pass from behind the net, snuck it past the St. Louis Blues goaltender, and took flight straight into hockey history. Countless fans have posed for photos in front of flying Bobby, with many touching the toe of his right skate in the hope that his superpowers will rub off.

But don’t make the mistake of putting the real Bobby Orr on a pedestal. That will never fly with him. The humble Ontario native who grew up wanting nothing more than to play in the NHL never loved the limelight. And that’s one reason why golf is such a big part of his life now.

“It’s peaceful,” Orr says. “You’re out in nature with friends, away from all the noise, and it’s just you against the course. My wife Peggy and I have lived in golf communities for 40 years—on Cape Cod, down in Florida at Jupiter Hills, and now in the new summer home we just built at Balsam Mountain Preserve up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It’s just beautiful there. And when you’re out on the course, you don’t hear a sound.”

It wasn’t until after he’d retired from hockey that Orr got serious about golf. At first, he says, he didn’t really know how to play the game. But over time, his passion for it grew. Like many hockey players, he has a natural, athletic swing and loves to compete. But he’s also realistic about his game.

“I’ve played a lot of sports, both as a kid and as an adult. Golf is without doubt the toughest game I’ve ever played,” he says. “And why? That little ball just sits there. Why is it so hard to hit it? I’ve often said, thank God my career was in a sport where I didn’t have to think.

“I’m not trying to be a scratch,” he adds. “For that, you’ve got to spend a lot of time on the range. I just won’t do that now. I’m having a good time just being out on the course with Peggy and my friends. The people I’ve met through golf—some of them are my closest friends now. We’ve gone on golf trips together around the U.S. and Canada, and also to Scotland and Ireland.

“I played with [1992 U.S. Senior Open champion] Larry Laoretti in a Senior Tour pro-am years and years ago, and we’re great friends to this day. And one of my best friends is actually a guy who bid on the chance to play with me at a charity event auction 25 years ago. Golf’s a great game for making friends.”

At first, Orr says, he’d get a little nervous playing in pro-ams and charity events. “That first tee, with 5,000 people standing around, it was definitely nerve-wracking. I can remember how difficult it was. I had no problem playing hockey in front of thousands of fans, but golf’s a whole different story,” he laughs.

Orr has put in appearances at a lot of those kinds of events, including one this past summer commemorating Team Canada’s historic 1976 Canada Cup win.

“A lot of hockey players are strong golfers,” he says. “They hit it a friggin’ mile—oh my gosh, it’s scary how far they hit it. Gordie [Howe] could hit it forever. He was unbelievable. And most of them have such good hands. We didn’t play hockey in the summer, so there were a lot of opportunities to tee it up. I like playing in events like the Canada Cup reunion we had because they do a lot of good. Golf raises so much money to help people and communities that need it. Other sports don’t even come close. I appreciate being a part of that.”

Orr’s had the privilege of playing alongside many of golf’s greats. Palmer. Nicklaus. Daly. One of his favorite pro-ams was at the LPGA’s Dinah Shore tournament, where he regularly went out with a group that included Juli Inkster, President Gerald Ford, and Bob Hope, who, Orr says, “could really play.” Another was the Willowbend Children’s Charity Pro-Am on Cape Cod, where he first met David Southworth, a developer who’s created high-end clubs and communities from New England to Scotland to The Bahamas. Southworth’s vision for Balsam was a chief reason why the Orrs chose to build there.

“I’ve known David for a long time going back to my Boston days. And I’ve been to many of his properties over the years,” says Orr, who was once an owner of a private Cape Cod golf community himself, The Ridge Club. “When David called saying he’d bought this place in North Carolina, we checked it out. Turns out, a lady who’d been golfing with Peggy at Jupiter Hills had a home at Balsam. So we got the lowdown from her and decided to build there. It checks all the boxes for us—not just the golf, but the spa and fitness center, the pool, the hiking trails and dining spots… it’s everything we could want, and it’s all done so well.”

The Orrs haven’t had their North Carolina mountain home that long, just one summer, but they’ve loved their first taste of mountain living. Daniel Schroll, chef at the community’s Boarding House Marketplace, set in a historic building where miners once bivouacked, created a pizza in Bobby’s honor—called the “Number 4,” of course—which starts with house-made dough and marinara sauce and goes on to dazzle fans with a lineup of Orr’s preferred toppings: house-made Italian sausage, pepperoni, double mozzarella, bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms. “It’s a fan favorite,” Schroll says.

Off-property, says Orr, the mountains are “a nice contrast to Florida. The whole area has so much to offer. We’re just 45 minutes from Asheville, where there are all kinds of things going on. And there’s great fishing. Peggy and I love to fish. It’s different here—the trout fishing. One of the ladies who works at Balsam has a son who’s a local guide. There’s excellent fishing to be found both on the property and in the surrounding area, and we’re looking forward to testing out the local streams.”

The Orrs tee it up together, too, and the truth is that Peggy Orr’s just as big a golf nut as her husband. He says that once their kids were out of the house and away at school, Peggy got bit by the golf bug in a big way. “She absolutely loves golf. If she can’t play, she’s just not happy,” he says with his trademark boyish grin. “She got a putting lesson from Brad Faxon one time after I won it in a charity auction. We went to dinner with Brad, I brought a putter, and Peggy got the lesson right there in the restaurant. To this day, she still remembers everything he told her.”

The Orrs have always migrated north from Florida in the summer to enjoy cooler climes. Between their home club in the Sunshine State and their new one in Balsam’s rugged mountain landscape, they now enjoy the best of two worlds.

“I love that the courses are so different,” Orr says. “The Hills Course at Jupiter, it’s a marvelous golf course. Tough, but beautiful. And we have the Village Course there, too, which is more playable for average guys like me. And what’s unusual for Florida is that there are actual hills at Jupiter Hills, which is pretty cool. You say to yourself, boy, they must have moved a lot of dirt. But from what I understand, they didn’t. It was all natural. The whole place is a golfer’s paradise.

“But Balsam, Balsam’s a whole different animal. It’s a full-fledged mountaineering expedition, with these dramatic ups and downs on just about every shot. You stand on the tees and take in the views, and they’re just spectacular, and then you ask yourself, how on earth did Arnold [Palmer] and his team ever build this course? How did they ever work out how to get from point A to point B when it was nothing but wilderness here? Don’t forget, this was before they had drones. It really amazes me.”

Orr’s favorite hole at his new club? Not No. 4, but No. 8. “It’s a steep, downhill par four with a river running in front of the green. It’s a blast, but it always kills me. Someday, I’m going to change that.”

One thing that will never change is Orr’s love of hockey. When he’s not out on the course or fishing, he’s still very active in sports management: His vision was to create an organization that assisted young hockey players with their career development—on and off the ice. “I love talking to the younger players,” he says. “I encourage them—and their parents—to call me just to talk, whatever’s on their mind, whether it’s hockey or just life. We’ve got some nice young players coming along.”

No doubt those players will benefit greatly from their conversations with the legendary No. 4. Imagine being able to tell your children and grandchildren that you once got career advice from Superman.