McConnell Golf Group is on a roll. After announcing the acquisition of Brook Valley Country Club just last month, the company has announced it will acquire The Country Club of Asheville, marking its tenth property in the Carolinas. The deal is set to close by the end of the year after the country club voted to join the McConnell Golf organization this month. The Country Club of Asheville has an 18-hole Donald Ross-designed “mountain course” and is the oldest private club in North Carolina, dating back to 1894.
McConnell Golf plans to invest $4 million in improvements. Details of the sale, including the price the property sold for, have not been disclosed.
With this acquisition, McConnell Golf will own 10 18-hole private courses and one nine-hole course, making it the largest owner of private clubs in the Carolinas.
“We hope our members can enjoy all our clubs as they travel throughout the Carolinas for business or pleasure,” Founder and President John McConnell said in a press release. “These are quality venues that will only get better. With the zero cost that members enjoy playing these other courses in our network, this is the best value of any competitive offering.”
The company plans to improve the Asheville course during the next two years.
“We will be making substantial improvements to the clubhouse and golf course over the next two years to make this a special venue in a beautiful setting and wonderful city,” McConnell said.
In addition to the 10 owned clubs, McConnell Golf also manages Grande Dunes Members Course and Ocean Club in Myrtle Beach for LStar Development. Brook Valley Country Club, acquired in October, is currently undergoing renovations and will reopen March 1, 2015.
“Our vision of purchasing clubs whose golf course was designed by a famous architect has been maintained with this addition,” McConnell said. “We are going to make major investments into Brook Valley CC to upgrade it to a McConnell Golf type facility.”
McConnell Golf was founded after purchasing Raleigh Country Club in the state’s capitol — the last design of famed golf architect Donald Ross — on Dec. 1, 2003. The purchase was an effort to preserve history but soon became means for the establishment of a growing company.
McConnell Golf Group purchased another famed golf design in 2006 — Sedgefield Country Club Dye Course in Greensboro (formerly known as The Cardinal), designed by Pete Dye and Tom Fazio. The group added the Arnold Palmer course, Musgrove Mill Golf Club in Clinton, S.C., in 2007 and Greg Norman’s The Reserve Golf Club in Pawleys Island, S.C., in 2010. Another Ross course, Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, was added in 2011. Hale Irwin’s TPC at Wakefield Plantation in Raleigh was added in 2011.
McConnell Golf Group also owns Treyburn Country Club in Durham, N.C. and Old North State Club in New London, N.C.