Bobby Orr On Balsam Life, The Goal And That Second Scoop Of Ice Cream

After decades of summering on Cape Cod and wintering in Jupiter, Florida, hockey legend Bobby Orr felt ready for a new seasonal rhythm. He and his wife Peggy swapped New England for Western North Carolina—landing at Balsam Mountain Preserve, a 4,400-acre luxury community nestled in the Blue Ridge range, where 3,200 acres are protected in a permanent conservation trust.

“We decided that we were going to make a change,” Orr explained. “David Southworth is the developer—I’ve been to Abaco, Willowbend and many of his properties and he’s a friend. So, Peggy and I were discussing a move…and next thing I know, I get a call from David and he says, ‘I just bought a property’ and I said, ‘Really?’ And that was the beginning.”

It turned out a longtime friend, one of Peggy’s golf buddies, already lived in Balsam. That made the decision much easier. They have one son in Vermont and another in Florida. “They come up a lot,” Orr said of his family and with all their visits Balsam has started to feel like a true home base.

The unspoiled nature and mountain views drew him in and between the hiking paths, equestrian trails, an overnight camping facility and 40 miles of class A trout streams there’s always something for the Orrs to get into. The fitness center and pool get plenty of play too. But beyond the amenities which also include a pair of restaurants a chip shot away from the clubhouse, what really sealed the deal were the setting and the people.

Orr, who chose to build his mountain perch in the emerging village by the clubhouse so he could be close to “the action” and have easy access to the driving range, serves as a Balsam community ambassador and isn’t shy about sharing what he loves about the place.

“It’s pretty quiet, but this is what we want and on the golf course—every hole is spectacular,” Orr enthused. “There are a lot of great people here. Our friends are starting to invite themselves up which we are thrilled about.”

Number four is already leaving his large paw prints on the menu. He kindly suggested that the warm skillet cookie at the Mine Tavern, one of two on-property restaurants, add a second scoop of ice cream on top.

No. 4 Loves Par 4’s

From the back tees on Balsam’s Arnold Palmer-designed course, a periscope might come in handy—especially on No. 8 a par 4 with a dramatic downslope to a tri-tiered terraced fairway. For first-time players, targeting the best landing spot off the tee is part guesswork, but that’s the thrill ride.

“Eight is a great hole, but they’re all great,” Orr related. “Some of the views are so pretty. It amazes me how Arnold built it into the mountains and some of the roadways they had to build to do it. It’s amazing what he did here.”

While piling up beaucoup points was Orr’s calling card on the ice, the Parry Sound puckhead racked up eight straight Norris Trophies as the NHL’s top defenseman, three consecutive Hart Trophies as league MVP, and twice earned the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s leading scorer. If they ever chiseled a Hockey Mount Rushmore, the smiling mug of the Bruins legend would be represented. He trailblazed his position’s offensive potential and remains the only defenseman to lead the NHL in scoring—a feat not even Cale Makar, today’s top offensive D-man, has matched

But these days, the scorecard is the last thing on Orr’s mind. When he plays golf, he doesn’t even keep a tally.

“I’m not into scoring anymore, I haven’t played much lately. I have a good hole, I have a bad hole, I have an indifferent hole—that’s the way I play now,” he said. “But being out there—especially here—it doesn’t matter how you’re playing. It’s beautiful.”

Though Orr once dominated a sport defined by speed and instinct, golf, a sport he never came remotely close to mastering, has been just as fulfilling, reinforcing the values of patience and humility—qualities he prizes more deeply with the wisdom of age.

“I was an athlete, and golf is the hardest game I’ve ever played. That ball just sits there and doesn’t move,” he said with a laugh. “It brings you back to earth. You think you’re an athlete, but…” he said, adding an intentional pause for dramatic effect.

He’s found the real reward is in the people he’s met through the game—whether at charity tournaments, casual rounds with friends, or watching his wife Peggy play with her regular group.

“It’s just a great social—I don’t know what you call it—get-together,” he said. “I’ve met so many wonderful people through golf. And the game raises so much money through pro ams and all kinds of events. That’s what makes it such a great game. And Peggy, my wife, she just loves the game. If she doesn’t play, she has withdrawal from missing it.”

Keeping it Real

“Golf humbles y0u, there’s no doubt about it. I’ve often said, thank God I play a game where I didn’t have to think. Golf, you have to think a little bit,” Orr said laughing.

He’s played with plenty of golf greats over the years, including Jack Nicklaus. The best tip he ever got? “Slow down,” he said. “We all get so fast. Slowing down is probably the best tip I’ve gotten.”

He recalled a piece of advice from Nicklaus too: “Jack said one time, the ball setup—if you don’t set up [properly], you’re going to get away with some shots, but you’re not going to with a lot of shots.”

Asked whether he still gets recognized much these days, Orr shrugs it off. “Not really,
he says. Though if the still-athletic-looking septuagenarian were standing in front of the statue of The Goal in downtown Boston—where he’s immortalized soaring through the air after redirecting a pass from Derek Sanderson past Blues goalie Glenn Hall to clinch the 1970 Stanley Cup—you might get a different answer. At the local Walmart, though? Not a chance.

He says he loves going to America’s largest big box store and weaving in and out of the aisles the way he used to glide down the ice.

“I’m going to win an award from Walmart soon for the best cart pusher,” he kidded, adding a whooshing motion with a grin. At the retail giant, no one expects to see Bobby Orr gliding past the granola bars and gallon jugs of milk—and so, they simply don’t. The hockey hero just blends into the blasé retail background, totally incognito.

Going unnoticed is a rare occurrence for the subject of what is widely considered one of the most iconic sports photos of the 20th century. Before it was memorialized in bronze, that airborne tableau outside TD Garden was frozen in time by Boston Record-American photographer Ray Lussier.

“Probably not much till after it was over,” Orr said when asked what he remembered about the moment. “In hockey, with the speed, you react. After it went in, I knew it was for the Stanley Cup, and that was my dream as a kid growing up—to be on a Stanley Cup team and in that moment it was there. I wasn’t thinking about anything else.”

While Blues defenseman Noel Picard certainly contributed to Bobby’s post goal superman position, he insists to this day that he was not tripped by the late Blues defenseman as the image suggests.

“It looks in the picture like he’s got his stick under my leg a little bit, but I was jumping too, because I did see it go in—I knew it was in,” Orr said. “He helped a little bit.”

And then with a laugh: “The best line I know is Glenn Hall said one time, ‘Is that the only goal you’ve ever scored?’

Orr’s own wit is as quick as the fast-twitch muscles that carried him to hockey glory, but at heart the Hall of Famer is a salt-of-the-earth kind of guy. As such, his most memorable quips tend to be more grounded than grandiose.

“I’m not that deep,” he deadpanned when asked if he had a guiding maxim as resonant as Gretzky’s oft-quoted, boardroom-approved line about skating to where the puck is going, not where it’s been.

That said, he has mined a few verbal gems of his own. “Forget about style, worry about results,” certainly comes to mind. And while he stands by the sentiment of that zinger, Orr shrugs off any attempts to elevate the primacy of the credo.

What he does wholeheartedly believe is how the lessons from hockey carried through the rest of his life. “I approach my business today the same way I approached my game yesterday. You are going to have teammates, you are going to make sacrifices—everything I learned in sports I can apply to any kind of business,” he said. “You have to be disciplined, and you’re going to work with others. That’s how it was as an athlete, and I don’t think it’s any different as a businessperson.”

Even when it comes to golf swings—especially those that are rough around the edges—Orr is forgiving. “Well, if you’ve seen my swing…” he cracked, before tipping his cap to today’s fearless young players. “These kids stand up and there’s no fear. They hit the heck out of it. My body’s not letting me do that anymore, so I have to be prettier.”

When he tees it up, it is his father Doug’s grounded wisdom that echoes back the most. Back when people told his dad that his son was destined to go pro, Orr senior always batted back to Bobby: “Go have fun, we’ll see what happens.”

“That was the advice he gave me,” Orr recalled, adding that the number one goal for kids playing sports should be to enjoy the journey. “The chances of them ever playing pro are slim. But if they keep playing a sport and have that love and passion for the game, they’re going to get a chance—only a chance.”

That’s the kind of hard-earned wisdom that makes Orr a go-to guiding light for future generations. Success is worth chasing but the chase itself is the reward. And if it leads somewhere, even better. That’s an extra scoop of ice cream on an already pretty sweet skillet cookie.