This Sunday, 11-year-old Simon Myers becomes the second McConnell Golf member to compete in the Drive, Chip and Putt national finals at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., the annual site of the Masters Tournament.

On Sunday, April 7, 11-year-old Simon Myers becomes the second McConnell Golf member to compete in the Drive, Chip and Putt national finals at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., annual site of the Masters Tournament.

The 10^th annual Drive, Chip and Putt finals will be broadcast live, prior to next week’s start of the 88th Masters. Conducted in partnership with the USGA, the Masters and the PGA of America, Drive, Chip and Putt is a free, nationwide youth golf development program open to boys and girls, ages 7-15, in four age divisions. The three-pronged competition tests the skills essential to playing the game – accuracy in driving, chipping and putting.

Local qualifying began last May and was held at hundreds of sites across the country this past summer. The top three scorers per venue, in each of the four age categories in separate boys and girls divisions, advanced to subregional qualifiers in July and August. The top two juniors in each age/gender division then competed at the regional level in September and October. Regional qualifying was held at 10 courses around the country, including multiple U.S. Open and PGA Championship venues.

Simon, the son of Linda and Tim Myers, who are members at Treyburn Country Club in Durham, N.C., won North Carolina pre-qualifier events at Mill Creek Golf Course and Duke University Golf Course, before traveling to Nashville, Tenn., for the regional qualifier.

At The Golf Club of Tennessee outside Nashville, Simon ran away with the Boys 10-11 title, his 152 points giving him a 23-point victory over the next-closest competitor. Simon sported an Augusta National polo shirt during his regional win, a gift from his friend and fellow golfer, Simon Hall. At this year’s subregional qualifier, Hall placed third and gifted the shirt to four-time regional qualifier Myers as a good luck charm.

Simon is one of 80 junior golfers representing 31 U.S. states, one Canadian province and Australia to have earned an invitation to compete at Augusta National this year. One champion will be named from each age/gender division. Each national finalist will be scored based on a 30-point system, offering the player with the best drive 10 points, the player with the closest cumulative chips 10 points and the player with the nearest cumulative putts 10 points, in each separate skill. The highest total composite score will determine the winner.

“I’m excited about the competition,” said Simon, who is a fun follow on Instagram (@simonmyers2012_golf). “The whole experience has been incredible.”

In 2016, another McConnell Golf member, Alyssa Montgomery from Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, Tenn., was 15 years old when she won her Drive, Chip and Putt division at Augusta National. She went on to earn All-ACC Academic Team honors during her four-year career at Virginia Tech, before joining the team at the University of South Florida as a fifth-year senior.

Simon — whose father played golf at Mississippi State and later tried his hand in professional developmental tour events — is the middle of three boys, and has played golf since he could walk. He regularly competes in Tar Heel Tour events, along with PGA Junior League, the US Kids North Carolina State Championship, and has participated in the US Kids World Championships since he was 6 years old.

This was Simon’s fourth Drive, Chip and Putt qualifying attempt, having made it as far as Duke during his three previous efforts.

Simon was able to meet his favorite golfer, Max Homa, during the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow. Homa reached out to congratulate Simon on social media after he qualified for the finals at Augusta National, and Simon hopes to see his idol again this weekend, along with some of the other Masters competitors who will be on hand.

Augusta National provides each competitor with clothing to wear during the event, and Simon requested Masters green. He also received a custom Ping bag embroidered with his name.

“I’m really excited about seeing the course and meeting the pros,” said Simon, who added that he has reviewed TV footage from previous finals at Augusta National as part of his preparation. 

Tune in to Golf Channel or NBC Sports digital platforms from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. ET for live coverage of the National Finals. Check out the live leaderboard on DriveChipandPutt.com.

For more information about Drive, Chip and Putt, please visit www.DriveChipandPutt.com.

Read More

Legacy members reflect on time well spent on the coastal course

Go ahead and take a few extra practice putts on the 14th hole at The Reserve Golf Club. Odds are you’ll hear Frank and Linda Butts celebrating in their backyard. The retired couple joined the club in 2007 and built their Reunion Hall home, bordering the fairway, in 2009. After permanently settling here from Richmond, they’ve embraced golfing their way through retirement on Pawleys Island in South Carolina.

“We started coming down to the Lowcountry in the 1980s,” Frank says. “When it was time to start thinking about this next chapter, we decided to build down here. We couldn’t be happier.”

As the Greg Norman-designed course celebrates 25 years in the Grand Strand, the Butts are proud to have been here for most of that. “This is a beautiful club that has established a culture of hospitality,” the retired audiologist says. “It has exactly what you’re looking for in a club: the idea of a well-maintained course, a respect for the terrain and a respect for members. That’s what you’ve got here.”

Both of the Butts grew up playing golf in a country club environment; Frank in West Virginia and Linda in Pennsylvania. After taking time off to focus on careers and kids, they’re back in the game with each maintaining a 22 handicap.

“Oh, Linda beats me with great regularity,” Frank confesses with a chuckle. “She’s more athletically inclined. When I returned to golf, my game didn’t come back with me, but the pleasure of playing exceeded the frustration. Sometimes, golf is like a marriage to a bad woman. You don’t know why you do it, but you keep hoping it will get better.”

Linda looks on with a knowing smile. “We enjoy the sport together,” she says. “I played with ladies for a while, but now Frank and I will play two to three times a week. Sometimes it’s just the two of us, and sometimes we’ll pick up other members and play with them.”

Her life and golf partner scans the horizon of the 7,200-yard course that hugs the terrain, links fairways with charming bridges and showcases Grand Strand beauty.

“We hold a natural preservation designation because of what the club has done to preserve the wildlife that surrounds us,” he explains. “We’re right next door to the most famous botanical gardens in the region: Brookgreen Gardens.”

He marvels at the ingenuity Norman used to create the course that complements 160 acres of natural wetlands. “It doesn’t have tricked-up water hazards. It was designed with Augusta National in mind. The greens are all domed, without heavy rough. There are fairways and pine straw. It’s fair and doesn’t beat you up, but if you have a tight lie and not a lot of talent, it will give you a speech impediment.”

The Butts enjoy reciprocity with other McConnell Golf clubs, most recently having played Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech, The Cardinal by Pete Dye and Country Club of Asheville. Yet their favorite course is The Reserve, especially when all the kids and grandkids come to play. And their favorite hole? Frank sums it up best; “It would be No. 14. It epitomizes my relationship with golf. It’s beautiful. It’s home.”

Read More

McConnell Golf Scholars make their mark at golf's highest levels

Raleigh-area native Akshay Bhatia earned a McConnell Golf Scholarship when he was 15 years old.

“This is one of the most exciting and rewarding programs in which we’ve been involved,” McConnell Golf Founder John McConnell said. “Our company is committed to amateur and junior golf. Some of the best junior golfers do not have access to practice facilities and good courses. Our goal is to provide this access and supervision in hopes of helping these talented young players move to the next level of play, and possibly allow them to elevate to the point where golf can become a means of helping them receive financial assistance for higher education and even play beyond the collegiate level.”

Bhatia, who was born in California, moved to Wake Forest with his family when he was an infant. He fell in love with golf at a public course just down the street from his house.

But it was the McConnell Golf Scholarship that Bhatia credits with propelling him to one of the best amateur careers in recent memory. He dominated numerous junior events, finishing runner-up in the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur and competing on the winning U.S. Walker Cup team in 2019. Homeschooled, he elected not to play high school golf, and instead of college, he chose to chase his dream and turn professional at age 17.

“I was very fortunate to get that scholarship,” Bhatia said during the 2023 Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club. “(John McConnell) offers junior golfers the ability to go play at some country clubs, which is great, and he owns so many now. You could go wherever, or you just call and you could go play. I was very fortunate to get that.”

“I grew up five minutes from a golf course from my parent’s house. But to get to that next level, I was able to start playing with a couple PGA TOUR players, a couple Korn Ferry players as a 15, 16-year-old. So, it was definitely nice,” Bhatia said. “And now I’m an honorary member at Wakefield Plantation, which is very special because they’ve treated me like family and to have that when I come back and not worry about where am I going to practice or where I’m going to play is a nice feeling.”

Bhatia’s first breakthrough came in January 2022, just before his 20th birthday. During his first official and sixth overall start on the Korn Ferry Tour, the lanky left-hander eased away down the stretch to win the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic by three shots. Along with the $135,000 winner’s check, Bhatia became just the third teenage winner on the tour, along with future PGA TOUR stars Jason Day and Sungjae Im.

Bhatia did not qualify for the PGA TOUR for 2023 but made it into the Puerto Rico Open in March and finished second for a $414,200 payday. That earned him special temporary membership status on the TOUR. After a ninth-place finish at the Barbasol Championship, Bhatia won his first PGA TOUR event in July at the Barracuda Championship in Truckee, California, played opposite of the Open Championship.

The 21-year-old ended up with four top-10 finishes on the PGA TOUR this season, including three top-4s, earning just shy of $2 million. “I’ve had a lot of ups, a lot of downs,” said Bhatia, who is now a full-time member of the PGA TOUR for 2024. “But I knew I was going to get here. It was just a matter of time.”

Grayson Murray received a McConnell Golf Scholarship in 2008 and two years later, when he was 16 years old, became the second youngest player to make the cut in a Web.com Tour event when he played the weekend at the REX Hospital Open, at Wakefield Plantation. By 2016, the former Leesville Road High School golfer had earned his full-time PGA TOUR card by finishing among the top 25 money winners on what is now the Korn Ferry Tour.

“I received the McConnell Golf Scholarship in the eighth grade, and it was perfect timing. It elevated my game so much just getting to go out to Raleigh Country Club every afternoon after school,” said Murray. “Learning how to play that course. Putting in the hours out there was huge. I don’t think I would have been the player I am without that scholarship. Five years at Raleigh Country Club was huge.

That’s a place where you can really improve your game. It was good preparation for college and then the pros for sure.”

“In all honesty, I don’t think Grayson could have made the type of progress he’s made in such a short period of time without the McConnell Golf Scholarship,” his father, Eric Murray, said. “It has provided him with a fantastic environment for him to practice in and to play.”

“I can’t tell you how much it has meant to Grayson,” says Murray. “We couldn’t have continued to put Grayson in the national tournaments he needs to play to keep his game moving forward, and also belong to a club of that caliber. It’s been really, really nice to be able to go over a world-class facility like Raleigh Country Club and practice. It’s been a dream, really.”

Murray recorded seven top-25 PGA TOUR finishes in 2017 and ’18, along with his first PGA TOUR win at the 2017 Barbasol Championship, earning more than $1 million each season. While Murray has experienced some lows during the past few years, the past season appears to have brought him some light at the end of the tunnel. In May, the 29-year-old won the Korn Ferry Tour’s AdventHealth Championship and he also had a pair of top-10 PGA TOUR finishes.

“I probably haven’t reached my prime yet,” Murray told the Golf Channel. “I can get on a good solid 10-year run and that’s what I plan on doing. I’m in such a good spot right now where I don’t want to change anything I’m doing.”

One of Murray’s high school golf teammates was Raleigh native Carter Jenkins, a 2010 McConnell Golf Scholarship recipient. In 2011, Jenkins earned a spot in the REX Hospital Open after winning a local qualifier to earn a spot in the field as an amateur. He made more waves in the fall of 2012 by shooting a course-record 59 at Wildwood Green.

Jenkins had outstanding success in amateur golf, winning eight Carolinas Golf Association titles, including the 2015 North Carolina Amateur and three consecutive Carolinas Amateurs. He became the first player in 92 years to win the Carolinas Amateur for three straight years. He played one and a half seasons for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill golf program after beginning his collegiate career at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. He won two events for the Spartans and earned All-Southern Conference and SoCon Rookie of the Year honors.

At UNC, Jenkins earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors in 2016 after leading the Tar Heels in stroke average (72.09), rounds under par (14 of 32), rounds in the 60s (seven) and percentage of rounds counted (30 of 32, .938). In 2016, Jenkins decided to forego his final year of collegiate eligibility and turn professional, making his pro debut on the Mackenzie Tour in British Columbia, Canada.

After going back and forth between the PGA Canada and Korn Ferry Tours, Jenkins finished T39 at the Final Stage of Q-School last fall, earning his first full campaign on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2023. A tie for 14th at the season-opening The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay set him on the right path, and he’s gone on to add three more top-20 finishes.

His professional golf experience has given Jenkins, who lives with the neurological disorder epilepsy, a more positive outlook on the game—and life. “These past couple of years have been good for me in terms of the way I’ve approached the game from an emotional and mental perspective to bring myself a lot of peace and calm,” he said. “Golf is a game of life, and just like in life, nothing is going to be perfect. Trying to be perfect on the golf course is only going to make yourself frustrated. You’re just going to get in your own way. I’m just trying to play with a calm over me, accept variables and adversity, and move forward.”

All three professionals credit the McConnell Golf Scholarship Program for allowing them to reach their full potential.

“I am very proud of this program that started in 2008 and seeing how well all the juniors have developed and matured both on and off the golf course,” said McConnell Golf Vice President of Golf Operations Brian Kittler. “These players were all talented and accomplished golfers when they entered the program, but having access to our courses, instruction and practice facilities, they were able to take their game to the next level.”

Read More

Host clubs clinch back-to-back victories in 2022 Solheim and Ryder cups

Longtime Treyburn Country Club member Kathy Porter is a former field hockey and lacrosse coach. So, she is naturally energized by competition, particularly team competition.

That’s one of the reasons she is such a fan of McConnell Golf ’s annual Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup competitions between clubs. “The (two cups) provide an opportunity to compete with your friends and bring the team dynamic to a game that is typically an individual sport,” she said. “It’s also a chance to expose our wonderful golf course to other McConnell Golf members.”

During three beautiful days last July, Porter and her Treyburn CC team hosted the Solheim Cup in Durham for the first time. Eleven clubs from across the company sent one golf professional and seven female members to compete in the 36-hole rung event. Treyburn, the 2018 champions, managed to hold off Raleigh Country Club with a score of 67.5 points to 64 points.

“Dalton Rich paired our team well both days,” Porter said. “He had us pumped to play the entire weekend, displaying positive energy to us all. Susan Owens, our club champion, always plays a steady game and came through as usual. Sally Burke had her best round ever on Saturday (while playing with Porter). Ann Amlin and Harriet Portnoy complemented each other as partners with Ann leading the charge to close out their match. Debbie Pitman, who was playing in her first Solheim Cup, was paired with Kathy Pittman on Sunday and piled on the points.”

“Treyburn is a challenging but fair course,” said Owens. “If you hit the ball well and stay out of trouble you can score low. However, the penalty for a miss hit can be severe and take a mental toll when you have lots of golf left to play.”

“One of our ladies, Harriet Portnoy, modifies her annual family vacation so that she can play. Debbie Pitman was our rookie this year, stepping up at the last minute when one of the ladies had to drop. She really embodied the spirit of the competition, she played hard and won points while still having lots of laughs. Sally Burke, Kathy Porter, Ann Amlin, Kathy Pittman, and Susan Owens are veterans and know each point in the rung-and-ladder format is important and does make a difference. Dalton Rich did a great job of pairing the ladies to maximize our individual strengths and creating teams that could carry one another when needed. We grinded when we needed to and cheered when that long putt fell.”

All the competitors complimented Treyburn Superintendent Mark Snell and his staff, who had the course in superb condition. “Being our home course, local knowledge did help a lot with some of the more difficult pin placements you only see during a competition like the Solheim Cup,” Owens said. “We knew we were doing well, but held our breath until the winners were announced.”

“Our head chef, Sean O’Neill, planned three days of extraordinary meals to feed the competitors,” said Porter. “The all-important desserts were outstanding!”

“The food was outstanding,” echoed Owens. “It’s always fun to see how creative and tasty the food is for these events. I love it that the chefs really showcase their talents and make the meal and presentation very memorable. The special drinks are a big hit too. The band and music were a perfect ending to a great day of golf and dining. Our ladies have some moves!”

2022 RYDER CUP MARKED BY COMPETITION, CAMARADERIE

For the 2022 men’s competition in mid-November, another host club, The Reserve Golf Club, captured its second consecutive McConnell Golf Ryder Cup. “Everyone played well,” said Reserve member Dennis Wahl, who has played in four Ryder Cups including the past two consecutive wins for The Reserve. “Pretty much the entire team finished in the top half every day with a number of guys first or second, which is why we won.”

Wahl turned 72 years old last August, yet averages playing more than 300 rounds per year including 332 rounds (mostly walking) in 2021. He runs the men’s group at The Reserve on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and his own group on Wednesdays and Fridays. He’s also the Senior Interclub Captain, as well as the Handicap Chairman.

Wahl played two days during the 2022 Ryder Cup event with Bob McLemore and Tom Tyndall, whose son, Ryan, was also on the team. “We have a lot of very competitive guys at the club which is one of the things that appeals to me,” Wahl said. “I certainly am a big part of that competition culture.”

“What rang out was that the team was solid from the participating pro on down to the highest handicapper,” said McLemore. “Everyone on the team played hard and punched their weight, scoring points that added to the overall total. It was a true team event.”

Before moving south, McLemore spent many years racing sailboats. He compared The Reserve’s effort to a successful nautical side. “I learned early that you can win a regatta without ever winning an individual race,” he said. “You just keep banging away at your competitors, and that is what we did.”

McLemore was a member of The Reserve’s 2018 winning team (a 10-man team then versus an eight-man team now) and he was also on the squad in 2010 — the very first Ryder Cup that The Reserve played. “It was held at Musgrove Mill,” he recalled. “Back then, The Reserve was new to McConnell Golf and we couldn’t field a competitive team
of scratch players, so we were given a pass and all played in the net division. No matter, we got creamed anyway, but carried on.

THE ORIGINS OF THE SOLHEIM AND RYDER CUPS

With history and pride as a foundation, the inaugural McConnell Golf Ryder Cup event was played in 2008 at Musgrove Mill Golf Club between the four McConnell Golf clubs at that time — Musgrove Mill, Raleigh Country Club, The Cardinal by Pete Dye, and Treyburn.

Following two days of heated competition, Raleigh and Musgrove tied at 81.5 points apiece. It took a sudden-death playoff before Raleigh CC emerged as the inaugural Ryder Cup champion. In 14 years of competition, The Cardinal has won five Ryder Cups, while Raleigh CC and The Reserve have each won three times.

Once the McConnell Golf portfolio and its female membership began to grow, the Solheim Cup was added in 2012 at The Reserve. It has been played at several McConnell Golf properties through the years. The Reserve has captured a trio of Solheim Cup victories followed by Raleigh CC and Treyburn with two each.

Despite their competitive nature, the two cups are viewed across the board as a fun way to meet new friends, get reacquainted with old, and enjoy some fun competition on McConnell Golf’s outstanding courses.

“It’s really all about meeting people and about having fun and just building McConnell Golf and building everyone’s enjoyment of all the other courses,” said Raleigh CC member Elly Matteis, who has played in all 10 Solheim Cup competitions (the 2020 Solheim Cup was canceled due to COVID). “The big party is Friday night, but … it’s really a party all weekend.”

Read More

A deeper look into the rewarding challenges of the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech

On twisting links-style greens in Radford, Virginia, everything leads to the river: your gaze, the next challenge, and the sloping fairways.

Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech sits on a uniquely scenic site, tucked onto a horseshoe-shaped peninsula that for 2.5 miles is fronted by the New River, one of the oldest rivers in the world — and one of only a handful that flow north. Perched on a ledge overlooking the front nine from one direction and the back nine from another, a 15,000-square-foot clubhouse offers sweeping views and delicious post-round bites in a relaxed upscale atmosphere.

“When was the last time during a round of golf you saw bald eagles, pileated woodpeckers, kingfishers, green herons, or Baltimore orioles? That can happen any day at the river,” insists member Bobby Swain. “Or even a flyover by the Navy or Air Force, all while enjoying the peaceful, tranquil surroundings,” adds Swain.

It was this naturally immersive — and challenging — layout that captivated Pete Dye. “A Virginia Tech alumnus named Bill Goodwin brought in Pete Dye to redesign the course in 2006.” When Pete Dye stepped onto the fairways, “he was just taken with the river,” says Pete Beller, a member and Radford local. “Of course, he put his signature into it with the bunkers and the layout of the course. It’s unique for golfers because this isn’t a basic course with no undulations or bunkers. It has professional design features built into it, and we’ve had to learn those features by playing them, which is fun for me,” laughs Beller.

Those same challenging features are why The River Course’s fiercely loyal members can’t seem to stay away — even in the winter months, when the practice facilities, indoor simulator and driving range are bustling. “The course has a very unique character: it has a links ‘flavor’ to it that you see in European golf courses, but isn’t a links course as you would know one to be,” says Beller. “You need to really place your shots and control your misses. That’s one of the hallmarks of the course, in that it makes you think when you play — the way a real championship golf course should.”

Bentgrass turf keeps the course firm and fast in the summertime, where “golfers can get a tighter lie, with lots of opportunities to run the Flat Stick around the greens,” adds Swain.

“And the Pete Dye design features four par 3s that all go in different directions. There is basically a 90-degree bend in the river between holes 9 and 10.”

The result? Golfers truly have to plot the course ahead of time. “Golf is the hardest game ever, in my opinion, and Pete Dye courses are more difficult than most,” says Quinton Nottingham, member. “When you’re approaching any hole on The River Course, you have to carry the ball all the way onto the grid — otherwise, you’d better have a really good short game, because they’re not going to roll up on the greens. Plus, there are very few trees on the course, so you need to keep the ball in play. It really does make you think through every hole, rather than just gripping and ripping. You need to play the hole in your head before you can really attack it. It certainly forces you to become a better golfer.”

If you’re up for the challenge, the Pete Dye River Course offers something rare and remarkable: an immersive round surrounded by unique natural elements not found anywhere else in the world — and plenty to discuss over a post-game round of drinks in the clubhouse.

Read More

Reflections on golf and life with Raleigh Country Club’s longest-serving member

The year: 1973. Stove Top Stuffing hit store shelves, “All in the Family” was the top show on TV and the U.S. economy was plagued by an oil crisis and inflation. In the midst of changing times, Jim Barnes joined Raleigh Country Club. “Oh, it wasn’t like it is today,” he reflects with a chuckle. “It was really just a golf club, there wasn’t much more, and it wasn’t in the best of shape. They had some kind of a deal during a membership drive. It cost $200 to join and dues were $47.50 a month.”

And just like the Doobie Brothers song, Barnes became a “Long Train Running.” Today, the 76-year-old is the longest-serving member at RCC, with this spring marking 50 years. The sites and stories he’s witnessed could fill the clubhouse locker room and then some. “I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly,” he laughs. “The golf course back then was only good six months out of the year because the greens didn’t drain well. In the early days, when we had the Parent/Child Tournament, there were only three teams. The pro and his son, one other father-son, and my son and I typically finished third in the field!”

Despite dubious numbers and conditions, his love of golf and family never wavered. As he told his wife Beth back then, he just needed a course and the opportunity to play. He’d grown up with the sport in Fayetteville, North Carolina. “I started playing with my mother when I was about 12 years old. We played a lot,” he says. “I played in college at Louisburg (College) and then The University of North Carolina. It’s always been an important part of my life.”

He confides there were years he was embarrassed to bring friends to play RCC, but then, John McConnell came along.

“When I first talked to him about purchasing the club, he told me those days were over,” Barnes shares. “I was hoping for green greens and fairways, but his vision was to redo the clubhouse and purchase land to expand the range. Major renovations and so much more. I’m honored to say our visions were miles apart and his was so much better!”

Barnes is in awe of not just the physical improvements, but programming and membership growth. “When I joined, we had probably 200 members. Now we’ve more than doubled in size, we have a waitlist,” he says. “And the juniors program? To see all the kids lined up for the Parent/Child nowadays? And the Operation 36 program? To see these great numbers is great!”

Three generations of Barnes now play the course, with the retired cement executive’s son and grandson picking up the sport. Barnes himself tees it up at least four times a week. He doesn’t hold any club titles but has sunk two holes-in-one on 17.

While the aces were great, Barnes says his most treasured golf experience was a trip to St. Andrews in Scotland, which the club pro put together. “When I got out on the first tee, I was so nervous,” he reveals. “To know every great golfer, from Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan, to Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, has stuck their tee in the ground right where I stuck mine? I couldn’t get my breath; I was so excited.”

He’s also excited to have been part of the club’s transformation to one of the premier clubs in the region. “This is my home,” he explains. “I was just telling my grandson; this is a special place, and we need to take care of what we’ve been given. When you’re a member of Raleigh Country Club, you can say it with pride. It’s a wonderful place to be. It’s been a privilege to have been on this 50-year journey.”

Read More

Raleigh-based McConnell Golf’s vast portfolio of private golf clubs around the southeast continues to stand out among the best of the best in a wide range of prestigious golf course rankings. In North Carolina’s Top 100 in the April issue of Business North Carolina magazine, McConnell Golf once again rose to the top.

In golfing circles, the state of North Carolina is renowned for boasting “50 Top 10 courses.” And in 2023, led by perennial stalwarts Sedgefield Country Club, Old North State Club, Raleigh Country Club and Treyburn Country Club, Raleigh-based McConnell Golf once again dominated North Carolina Golf Panel’s Top 100 courses.

For the third consecutive year, all 10 of McConnell Golf’s North Carolina-based layouts were included among the state’s Top 100 rankings, including a trio of layouts ranked in the state’s Top 20. The N.C. Golf Panel presented its 28th annual report on the state’s 100 best courses in the April issue of Business North Carolina magazine.

McConnell Golf CEO John McConnell, who founded the company 20 years ago, was also recognized in Business North Carolina’s April issue in a separate article about the state’s 15 most influential golf industry titans.

Greensboro’s Sedgefield CC, a Donald Ross design that annually challenges the world’s best golfers during the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship, ranked No. 9 in the state again in 2023, followed by McConnell Golf’s perennial state Top 10 — Old North State Club, a Tom Fazio masterpiece along Badin Lake’s Uwharrie Point near New London — which stayed at No. 10 in this year’s rankings.

Ross’s historic final design and McConnell Golf’s first club, Raleigh CC, also made the state Top 20 again in 2023, remaining at No. 19. Raleigh CC will enjoy the return of professional golf this year from June 1-4, when the club will host the Korn Ferry Tour’s UNC Health Championship presented by STITCH after 18 years at another McConnell Golf venue, The Country Club at Wakefield Plantation in North Raleigh.

In 2020, McConnell Golf completed a $5.5-million renovation at Raleigh CC, a modern-day reimagining overseen by architect Kyle Franz. The layout lends itself to an excellent fan experience, with each hole in close proximity, giving spectators the privilege of watching multiple holes from expansive and convenient viewing areas.

The Fazio-designed gem at Treyburn CC in Durham was ranked No. 33 among North Carolina’s finest while another Ross design, Country Club of Asheville, remained in the state’s Top 50 at No. 50, following a 2016 McConnell Golf renovation spearheaded by Richard Mandell of Pinehurst. McConnell’s popular semi-private property, The Cardinal by Pete Dye in Greensboro, checked in at No. 52 in the state, up three spots from 2022.

Another Fazio design, Porters Neck Country Club in Wilmington, a Tom Fazio creation that McConnell Golf bought in 2020, made the biggest jump in the 2023 rankings, up 11 spots to No. 64 in the state, followed at No. 81 by Charlotte’s Providence Country Club. McConnell Golf added Providence CC to its portfolio in 2016 and hired Greensboro architect Kris Spence to renovate the course two years later.

In Raleigh, Hale Irwin’s design of The Country Club at Wakefield Plantation stood at No. 89 — further demonstrating how strong golf is across North Carolina. Meanwhile, McConnell Golf’s Brook Valley Country Club in Greenville remained a part of the state’s coveted Top 100 at No. 99.

McConnell Golf, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, is the region’s largest owner of premier private clubs with a portfolio across North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, including 13 18-hole, private golf courses, two semi-private courses and one 27-hole public course. The organization was built upon the concept of “pure golf for the true golfer,” focusing on enhancing both the individual clubs and its company’s overall membership value.

“Our courses continue to merge history, beauty and opportunity for our avid golfing membership and their guests,” said McConnell. “With numerous recent enhancements at McConnell Golf courses and other projects planned, I am proud of what we have accomplished and eager to see how the rankings play out in the future.”

McConnell Golf is the only individual golf course proprietor in the world that owns four Ross-designed courses. Its impressive stable of clubs also includes Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, Tenn., and its highly regarded 1927 Ross-designed golf course — current host of the Korn Ferry Tour’s Visit Knoxville Open and a fixture in Golfweek’s Best Classic Courses. McConnell Golf purchased Holston Hills in late 2015 and has invested heavily in capital improvements including a new fitness center, locker room upgrades, and a banquet and dining room renovation.

Read More