The long-anticipated sale of the Plantation Golf Club has taken place and the new sign at the entrance will mark the first tangible evidence of the transaction. The new name of the 640-acre complex is the Mid South Club and expectations among members and residents are running high.
A reported sale of the facility several months ago never reached fruition and left everyone concerned disappointed and disillusioned. But that isn’t going to happen again, according to Perry, president and chief executive officer of Mid South Partners.
“We’re a group of nine businessmen, all friends and all golfers,” Perry said from his new offices at 100 Market Square in the village of Pinehurst, “and we’ve been involved in several other successful ventures.”
Arnold Palmer, whose company designed the course that opened as Pinehurst Plantation in 1993, has been actively involved in the transaction, but isn’t one of the owners, Perry said.
“Arnold is a personal friend and he’s been very supportive of us,” said Perry, who moved to the Sandhills from a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pa. “He flew down here a couple of months ago to look at the property and give us some ideas, and he was thrilled with the condition of the golf course. He told us we didn’t need to make many changes on the course.”
The changes that have already begun include a sign bearing the new name at the entrance, and a 24-hour guard at the gatehouse who will assure privacy for members. Other changes that are scheduled for the first of the year include the building of a 20,000-square-foot clubhouse, tennis courts, a swimming pool, a fitness center, a large practice facility and paved parking lots.
Plans are to make the club totally private, eliminating all outside play as of Sept. 1.
“The first thing we want to do is to provide a stability that the place has never had before,” Perry said. “We realize that in order to do that, we have to show some tangible results, and that starts with the new name on the sign. We’ve purchased 106 acres of adjoining property at a cost of $2.25 million for future development and we’re going to eliminate outside play. The course has been averaging about 25,000 rounds a year and 80 percent of that was nonmember play. That’s a commitment that’s tangible.
“It’s going to be a step-by-step progression of convincing people, but we’ve invested a lot of money and put together a very strong team of local people such as David Ainslee and Bob Tufts. These are quality, experienced people who know the inside of the operation.”
Ainslee, formerly with Pinehurst Inc., is marketing director. Tufts, an associate of Forest Creek Golf Club whose family founded Pinehurst, will also assist in management responsibilities.
Plans are to implement a revised membership structure that will affect current members as well as prospective new ones.
“I’ve lived on the property for three months and my observation is that the members are enthusiastic about our plans,” Perry said. “We’ll be meeting with them to share our future plans and membership changes. They’ve been down a long, tough road and we’re going to be accommodating to them.”
There are approximately 170 members in various categories, with 150 property owners and 59 occupied homes on the property. Plans call for an additional 210 homes, revised downward from an original plan for 600. This will avoid a possible density problem.
As for the golf course itself, there are few concerns. It has been regarded as one of the premier layouts in the area since it opened.
“There’s never been a problem with the course,” Perry said. “The problems came from the owners’ failure in other properties.”
Perry understands that members and prospective property buyers want to see some early positive indications of change.
“We’re committed to that,” he said. “We know we have to be. Under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t build a clubhouse until you had the members to support it, but this isn’t a normal situation.
This club has been here for almost 10 years.
“We’re in this for the long term and we’re positive we can make it work despite the economic situation. We believe the economy will recover and we’ll be there when it does. We think our expectations are realistic.”
Ainslee points out that while golf is the primary attraction of the complex, there will be plenty of other activities for residents.
“Golf is certainly our major focus, but we’re going to try to have a very balanced community,” Ainslee said. “We think we’ll draw people from a lot of different areas because of the international reputation of the Pinehurst area. We have a Pinehurst address and a Southern Pines location on Midland Road that will appeal to professional working families.
“We’re going to grant access to the property to local real estate companies and their agents can bring their clients to us and we’ll show them around and share the proceeds.”
The phone number is 295-5556.
