Some of Piney Branch's fairways slope significantly, none more so than at the par 4 12th where a drive that hits the left side of the fairway could find the creek.

    In many cases, you can size up a golf course best if you are watching rather than playing.  Hitting 80+ golf shots over 18 holes provides an emotional, as well as physical, experience, but following a threesome of decent players around a routing provides more angles of shots and three times as many opportunities to view a course's complexities.
    I have an almost complete view of Piney Branch Golf Club after two days of watching five golfers take a combined 480+ shots in a collegiate tournament (one of them was my son, thus the five golfers rather than six).  To sum it up, I had not heard of the private Piney Branch but wish I had back when my game was a little more finely tuned.  The course looks easy but can be treacherous in its nuances.
    Most memorable are the medium-sized greens at the rural Maryland course, which is located about a half hour south of York, PA.  All the putting surfaces are contoured, some severely and others subtly, and it is a fair debate which are easier to putt -- the ones where the break is obvious but significant, or those whose putts you need to look at from all sides carefully because nothing about the breaks are obvious.  
    On the severely tilted surfaces, it was never a good idea to be above the hole.  On many holes, par was more attainable with a chip from short of the green than a putt from 25 feet.  It was refreshing to see a greens superintendent who actually cut the bent grass to a stimp meter reading of somewhere in the 11 area, causing my golf architecture aficionado son to conjure, "This must be what it is like to putt the greens at Augusta."  The putting surfaces were slick, and some of the 1 and 2 handicap collegiate golfers three-putted a half-dozen times and more to shoot over 80.  The stiff breeze that blew on day one affected some of the longer putts, as well as the approach shots.  In short, the greens were playing a lot of head games with the college golfers, and the best score of 142 over the two days was eight strokes ahead of second place.
    The Piney Branch layout, by (Ed) Ault Design, features mostly doglegs that swerve toward elevated greens.  Most fairways are generous, but a few tilt toward woods and streams, putting three-wood in play on a few of the 400-yard par 4s and at least one of the par 5s.  The 12th, for example, a 416-yard par 4, sloped so significantly right to left that a drive to mid fairway rolled into the rough on the left.  A creek 20 yards left threatened any drive that landed on the left side of the fairway.
      If Piney Branch has a weakness, besides its hard-to-get-to rural location about one hour from Baltimore, it is its four par 3s, whose distances are in the tightest range of any golf course in my memory, 181 yards to 194 yards at the tips, adding up to a rather boring set.  With the exception of #7, which is all carry over a lake, the other one-shot holes are fairly banal, except for their putting surfaces, whose complexities make up somewhat for the distances.  Also, I thought out of bounds markers encroached in some odd places.  On one hole, the stakes guarded a stream that should have been marked hazard rather than OB.  On the par 4 4th hole, the stakes were lined up a good 10 yards inside a fence that marked the back property of a home that sat a good 100 yards away.  Why not, I wondered, just put the OB stakes at the edge of the fence?  
    One other gripe of minor consequence:  At the practice range, better players can hit their drivers far enough that a few balls reach the middle of the 11th fairway in the distance.  This is not a safety hazard but rather an annoyance as you stand on the 11th tee and look down on a fairway with golf balls in hitting range.
    Piney Branch was in excellent condition, both on the course and in its facilities.  Pro shop and dining room employees were helpful and friendly despite the crush of college players and family members.  Membership fees are reasonable for this kind of quality.  Full golf membership initiation is $10,000 for a family, with dues of $333 per month (plus a $35 capital assessment).  Those who would prefer to play on weekdays pay the same initiation fee but get a significant break on dues, just $217 per month, but retain the same all-week dining and social privileges as the full members.  (Note:  Weekday members cannot play on weekends even as the guest of another member, nor can they play in club tournaments).  For those whose spouse does not play golf, dues are $247 monthly.  Members must spend $135 per quarter for food in the clubhouse, which is quite reasonable.  I didn't sample the food but overheard a number of parents and players praising the hamburgers and hot dogs cooked outside on the grill.
    I did not see a home within 200 yards of the golf course, but a few on the surrounding hills were large and impressive (as was the huge backyard on one of them, whose horses eyed the golfers as they played by).  A 6,000 square foot, six-year-old brick colonial that sits above the 6th hole is currently listed at $1.175 million and features 5 bedrooms, 4 ½ baths and more than 5 acres of property.  Less than a mile away is a turn of the century home with a front porch and "tenant house" that could generate extra income, as well as a barn, all on more than two acres (an additional three acres is optional).  It also includes three fireplaces, four-car garage, in-ground pool and a price-tag of $555,000.  The town of Hampstead has enough services to satisfy everyday needs, but for a more elaborate array of restaurants and shopping, suburban Baltimore offers plenty at just about 30 minutes distance.
    Piney Branch Golf Club, 5301 Trenton Mill Road, Hampstead, MD.  410.239.7114. Web: PineyBranchGolf.com.  Par 71, Yardages/Rating/Slope:  Blue tees 6,870/73.7/132; White tees 6,516/72.0/128; Red tees 5,318/72.0/128.  If you would like more information or a real estate contact in the area, please let me know (use the Contact Us button at the top of the page).

Most of the greens are elevated on the par 4s at Piney Branch.  One of the toughest is at the dogleg right 15th.

by CB Johnson

This is the first in a series of occasional articles by real estate professionals I know in the southern U.S.    

    In the Wilmington area market, it's difficult to tell the true difference between list price and sale price.  The reason for this is that many houses are reduced significantly from their original list price until an offer is finally

made and the property closes.  Most calculations of "properties selling at XX% of list price" are made from the last price at which the property was listed prior to negotiating a contract.  As a general rule, I'm seeing selling prices resetting back to the level they were about two to three years ago.  I expect them to reset further, perhaps back to the 2002/2003 levels.  This presents an incredible opportunity to purchase a home (primary, second or otherwise) at a deep discount.
    While many buyers are balking at purchasing and taking a position in this market, I believe that it is in their best interest to do so for the following reasons:
    1) If they wait until they know that the market has "hit bottom," it will already have done so and be on the way to recovery.  They will have missed out on any deals available.
    2) Interest rates (that have been at all time historic lows for nearly 8 years now) are destined to rise.  A year ago, it was feasible to get a 30-year, conventional mortgage for approximately 5.75%.  This has now risen to approximately 6.5% at least.  Any potential "savings" has been eroded by a higher monthly payment.
    The truth is that this real estate market is probably here to stay for 20 to 30 years.  The main problem we face right now is that the average American family can no longer afford the average American home (click on the graph below).  This happened because lending guidelines were loosened in response to the idea that "every American should own a home," ultimately creating an excess of buyers for which the market wasn't prepared.  When you increase demand, supply goes down and prices go up.  Of course, in markets, what goes up must come down, so we're in the process of moving back towards equilibrium.
Obviously this affordability issue effects the entire housing market as it limits the supply of buyers.  The biggest problem with the local market is that the normal "buyers" can't sell their homes in your area and thus purchase homes here in Wilmington.  
    Ultimately it's a large chain reaction.  Between the lending institutions reaction to the market conditions (making qualification more difficult), the pricing and affordability issues, and the lack of real understanding about the market (many agents/sellers think that this problem will be corrected by next spring), the market is a bit mired.
    It remains a great time to buy a home.  The irony of this situation is that all the people in pain are now saying "this too shall pass."  Why weren't they saying it when times were good?  All time passes, whether good or bad.
A great lesson for the future is to store up in times of plenty knowing that "this too shall pass."  Another interesting point is that a few years ago, the market was GREAT for sellers and HORRIBLE for buyers.  Now the market is GREAT for buyers.   
    Why don't people refer to this as a great real estate market?

CB Johnson is a licensed real estate broker in Wilmington, North Carolina and the Operating Principle of the Keller Williams office in Wilmington.  His comments, and those of other real estate professionals here at Golf Community Reviews, do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editor.  I would be happy to put you in touch with CB.  Just send me a note.