According to sources, the acquisitive multiple-golf-course owner John McConnell is at it again:  As soon as a week from now, his organization

TPC Wakefield will be McConnell course #8 of a targeted nine.  But will he stop there?

will announce that it has purchased The TPC Wakefield golf course in Raleigh, NC.  That will bring to eight the number of courses the McConnell Golf Group owns in North and South Carolina, most of them concentrated in the Triangle formed by Raleigh, Durham and Greensboro.  When I met with McConnell officials last year, they indicated they planned to stop the buying binge at nine courses, but I am going to go out on a limb and say they will exceed their plans; golf course valuations in the current economy are just too attractive to pass up, and the McConnell folks seem to have golf course operation down to a science.  The software millionaire’s deep pockets don’t hurt either; the clubhouses and golf courses he has purchased all have received touchups shortly after closing.

        TPC Wakefield is located about a half hour from Treyburn (in Durham) and Raleigh Country Clubs, two other McConnell facilities.  The Hale Irwin designed course, like most TPC layouts, plays host to an annual professional golf event, in Wakefield’s case the Nationwide Tour’s REX Hospital Open.  McConnell’s most recent purchase before Wakefield, Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, hosts the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship.  John McConnell himself speculated recently that the PGA Tour put TPC Wakefield up for sale because its focus had shifted to ownership of courses in resort areas and away from “community” clubs.  The McConnell organization’s own strategy targets upscale golfers willing to pay up to $25,000 in initiation fees and mid-range monthly dues for the privilege of access to multiple well-conditioned golf courses designed by some of golf’s foremost architects.

Treyburnapproachovercreek

McConnell Golf's Treyburn Country Club is at the heart of a neat-as-a-pin golf community in Durham, NC.  It is one of two Tom Fazio courses in the McConnell portfolio.

 

       However, local homeowners are quite happy with McConnell on the scene.  He has a reputation for taking marginal golf courses and improving them substantially, and taking good courses and making them even better, as he did at The Reserve in Litchfield, SC, where he closed the Greg Norman course the day after he bought it and redid all the greens and many of the bunkers.  Homeowners inside The Reserve were especially grateful that their golf club, on the verge of bankruptcy when McConnell became interested, was restored to health.  Some estimated it meant a bump up of 10% in home values.

        McConnell’s portfolio of courses has been well designed, spanning the range of classic to ultra-modern layouts, reflecting the subtleties of Donald Ross (Sedgefield) and the drama of Tom Fazio, whose Old North State Club layout in remote New London, NC, consistently ranks among the top three courses in the state.  Other McConnell clubs include the brutally challenging Musgrove Mill (Arnold Palmer) in Clinton, SC, and the quirky but exciting Cardinal (Pete Dye) in Greensboro.  Given that they are a decent car ride from the Raleigh area, Old North State and Musgrove Mill feature golf cottages that visiting members can use for overnight stays before and after a round of golf.  The Reserve, the course that is farthest from McConnell’s core base in Raleigh and a couple of tee shots from the ocean, is within a mile or two of many town homes and condos that can be rented by the day.  McConnell also offers pricey golf packages for non-members; a seven-day package can run as high as $2,600.  When it reopened after its renovation last year, The Reserve at Litchfield offered full-golf memberships for just $5,000, which included access to all other McConnell courses.  Today, membership is $10,000, still a bargain for the roster of courses available to McConnell members.

*

Editor’s Note: Although most of the courses the McConnell Golf Group have purchased are at the heart of golf communities, McConnell has chosen not to purchase any available lots.  However, after visits to Treyburn, The Cardinal, Uwharrie Point (the community surrounding the Old North State Club) and The Reserve, I can recommend all as worthy of consideration for those considering a home in a golf-oriented venue.  If you would like more information about any of these communities or more information about McConnell Golf’s membership plans, please contact me.

Sedgefield9approach

Of its eight golf clubs, McConnell can boast two designed by the legendary Donald Ross -- Raleigh Country Club and, above, Sedgefield, host of the annual PGA Tour's Wyndham Championship.

by Rick Vogel
        To buy or not to buy, that is the question.  Landslide mapping, soil surveys, landslide histories and common sense dictate that dangers lurk on the steep slopes of western North Carolina's most popular properties.  Some developers, realtors and their political enablers argue there have
Gone are the five geologists responsible for landslide hazard mapping in western North Carolina.

been few deaths and minimal property destruction caused by landslides. They also argue that landslide hazard mapping to determine safety is not cost effective.  Now the North Carolina Republican-controlled legislature, to prove the points, has pulled $355,000 of funding that was being used to employ five state geologists in the mapping of dangerous areas throughout all 19 western North Carolina counties.
        This move begs the question:  Was it truly budget concerns and cost savings that prompted these lawmakers to target landslide hazard mapping?  As Asheville-based Southern Environmental Law Center attorney D.J. Gerken points out, "Certainly some of the legislators have been very open in their statements that they viewed these maps as a backdoor to regulation and were not the least bit sorry to see these maps go away."
        What is missing from the debate -– the prospective buyer -- is more important than the motives of elected officials who have effectively moved to hide this information from the public.  What prospective buyer of steep slope property would be comfortable in making an informed decision about safe building
The $355,000 saved from the program's elimination is less than the value of many homes in landslide prone areas.

and/or possible financial loss absent information about potential landslides?  Those with the most to lose have been essentially without voice in the process.  Is it reasonable to believe that someone willing to spend $300,000 to a $1,000,000 or more for a new home would choose to ignore the benefits of landslide hazard maps that might well result in safer construction?  If this information could be had by the inclusion of a few hundred thousand dollars in the state budget, are we to believe that state legislators are working in the best interests of their constituents when they suggest these very same constituents should be kept unaware of the many dangers that could be avoided by landslide mapping?
        The truth of the matter is much simpler than any interest in the public's needs.  The fact is that landslide mapping would result in some property being deemed not safe to sell or develop.  It is unimaginable that this information would not be of interest to a prospective buyer.  Outrageous is the only word that can be used to describe the self-serving choices of some developers, realtors and numerous political hacks working in concert to keep this information as far away from interested buyers as possible.  Why would they do this?  Greed, plain and simple, the very same mindset that is responsible for the current economic downhill slide.
        There is no insurance available to cover any loss caused by earth movement, manmade or otherwise.  The only protection you can buy that might tell you if construction is safe and your investment is likely secure is the initial site-specific survey prompted by landslide mapping information.  This one time cost is arguably the most important money that you could spend related to a mountain home, and yet some NC elected officials have voted otherwise.  The argument against continuing state landslide mapping is simply dumb and potentially dangerous for the eventual occupants of the property.

Rick Vogel, who has contributed articles to Golf Community Reviews in the past, and his wife Lynne reside in the golf community of Wolf Laurel near Asheville, NC, and are among our web site’s most dedicated readers.  Although Rick’s opinions in his editorial are his own, count your editor as four-square in support of more information for prospective buyers, especially where safety is concerned.  I invite other readers to contribute their own opinions on this and other subjects related to real estate, golf and, especially, the combination of the two.