Sneak Peek of Raleigh Country Club's Golf Course Renovation

by Paul Dickens

 Oct 07, 2020 at 8:00 PM

As the days get shorter and autumn leaves begin to change, the Raleigh Country Club (RCC) renovation project moves one step closer to completion. The tasks completed over this next month are key as final details are buttoned up with small-scale landscaping, the course bathroom remodel, new tee box installments and delivery of the new golf carts with GPS technology.

Below is a sneak peek of snapshots on what members can expect to see on the fairways when the course reopens. Stay tuned for more updates over the next few weeks regarding the renovation.

Hole #1

Players will first notice the addition of bunkers on the left side off the tee and a wider fairway that has been shifted slightly right of the original hole. A new barranca helps extend the penalty area from the pond across the entire fairway. Players will also need to navigate a similar fairway-cut area in front of the green. The first green still maintains its original integrity that will favor the high left-to-right approach.

Hole #2

From the tee, players will see three new bunkers up the left side to help frame this dogleg right hole. Beware of the new barranca in front of the green as any shot that comes up short will repel further away from the green. Also, don’t miss the green long as an up and down will be almost impossible.

Hole #3

With the back tees softly integrated just off the right side of the second green, players will be faced with an uphill tee shot to a diverse green that has been modified to allow for more hole locations than the previous green. A par 3 still goes a long way in getting your round off to a positive start.

Photos courtesy of Chip Henderson Photography

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Golf Course Renovation

by Brad King

 Mar 25, 2020 at 4:03 PM

The final design of Donald Ross returns to its roots under the watchful eye of architect Kyle Franz. 

Golf course architect Kyle Franz is overseeing an extensive restoration at Raleigh Country Club. Franz played a key role in creating several of the most innovative and acclaimed courses built in the last decades, while also helping enact the restoration plans of several classic courses. That list includes a pair of North Carolina-based Ross designs: the highly profiled restoration of Pinehurst No. 2, where Franz assisted Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw prior to the 2014 U.S Opens, as well as his 2013 restoration work at Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club, which garnered “Best U.S Resort Renovation of the Year.”

RCC closed the golf course at the beginning of February and the plan is to reopen in early October. McConnell Golf estimates the cost of the project cost to be approximately $5 million.

In a letter to the Raleigh Country Club membership, John McConnell said the focus of the project is to produce an improved course for all levels of players.

“Many different ideas were discussed and reviewed with the architect, contractors and our staff to finally get to a design that was in our budget, would be a major improvement for the course and member play, and would benefit maintenance and turf conditions going forward,” McConnell wrote. “I believe that the plan being implemented keeps the integrity of the course that Donald Ross first designed and built, but allows more challenges for the long-hitting players in vogue today.”

In mid-January, McConnell and Franz presented RCC members an early project preview. Among the RCC course enhancements:

  • A new irrigation system will be installed to improve course conditions.  
  • Greens will be enlarged for more pin locations and improved strategic shot making. They will remain bent grass. 
  • New tee boxes will be constructed to both extend course yardage (to more than 7,200 yards) and benefit female, junior and senior golfers. 
  • New bunkers are being added for greater visuals and improved play, as well as improved drainage. The course will go from 56 bunkers to 78. 
  • Approximately 350 trees are being removed.  
  • Some of the cart paths are being rerouted or removed substantially to give the course an even more natural feeling on how the land lies. 
  • Native grasses will be planted during the next few years to give the course a very dramatic look.  

    
“Our goal is always to create a member-focused club that is not overcrowded on our fairways or at the pool, and we will manage to that plan,” McConnell said. “Our architect has developed this plan with much attention to detail and has been on property numerous times to ensure that Donald Ross’s last gem will be elevated to a whole new level.”

There are no member assessments as this project is funded entirely by McConnell Golf. “We are all partners and together we can achieve greatness for our long-term club enjoyment and golfing activities,” McConnell said. “It is our belief that after the renovation we will have the premier golfing venue in the region and applications for membership will increase.”

While the RCC golf course is closed, the club’s practice facility will remain open. The golf shop is providing members with numerous reciprocal opportunities at local clubs, including all McConnell Golf locations. In addition, McConnell Golf announced that while the golf course is closed, the 12-round for cart fee limit at other McConnell Golf courses is waived.

“This year offers the perfect excuse to travel out of town and play some of the other fantastic courses in our portfolio that you may not have enjoyed before,” McConnell wrote in his letter to the membership.

   

   

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High-Tech Turf

by Casey Griffith

 Dec 19, 2017 at 4:23 PM

To the casual observer, the greens and fairways of Raleigh Country Club appear to be a utopian landscape expertly sculpted by knowing hands. One imagines every corner of the course is generously and thoroughly fussed over for hours on end, and that it no doubt guzzles unspeakable resources and costs a fortune to maintain.

Often overlooked, however, is the whirr of spinning discs atop the birdhouse on the No. 18 fairway and the tiny sets of holes on each green. It’s easy to glance past a nearby sprinkler head that covers an exact radius for exactly five and a half minutes — one that will administer no water at all tomorrow. The reality is that taming this demanding 200-acre course requires a sophisticated approach, precise applications, and next-level data analysis that McConnell Golf is helping to pioneer.

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING

During RCC Superintendent Billy Cole’s 30 years in the industry, he’s watched technology touch nearly every aspect of his work. “From equipment to communication, technology has made every job a little bit easier,” he says.

Until recently however, these technologies have lived in separate systems. Soil contents and moisture levels are recorded with a device called a Pogo stick — it probes the green and transmits data to a mobile app. Another device drops a golf-ball size sphere onto the green to record firmness, while green speeds are measured by hand with a stimpmeter. Hidden in plain sight, a solar-powered weather station on No. 18 transmits info to the office, where all data points are manually recorded alongside records for equipment repair, maintenance, and labor costs. Through these tools, Cole can track, assess, and manage a healthy course. 

“The challenge is to balance what’s good for the golfers and what’s good for the course,” he says. “They both rely on each other and they both want very different things. The turf needs to rest and recover while our members want to play as often as possible.”

Enter OnLink. This cloud-based platform collects data from Cole’s instruments to provide analytics across all sources. Beyond time savings, OnLink measures different variables against each other and predicts outcomes with more accuracy.

“I’ve been doing this long enough that I could tell you how the weather will impact the course pretty well,” Cole explains. “But this gives me the ability to precisely understand why we’re seeing certain things. We’ve had more consistent green speeds, for example, since using OnLink because we can monitor if a particular green needs to be rolled twice in order to play consistently with others.”

The predictive nature of the platform doesn’t only prompt reactive efforts – it’s also a means for conservation. As Cole reports, “Now I can see where we’ve over-corrected in the past. Identifying thresholds for ideal outcomes and eliminating excess has been just as valuable to us as the ability to understand trends.” 

SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES

The platform has environmental implications as well. “OnLink provides the tools to incorporate metrics that evaluate sustainability across our courses ... fewer chemicals, less water, less intensive maintenance, and lower costs,” explains McConnell Golf COO Christian Anastasiadis. “The ability to efficiently measure and monitor benchmarks has been missing in the golf industry for a long time.”

RCC has been piloting the OnLink platform for six months, and it will be rolled out to all properties by the end of the year. These practices will be just as valuable at sister properties, especially when it comes to accommodating the unique ecological thumbprint and microclimate of each course.

“Our purpose for this program is consistency of course conditions and management of materials and labor across McConnell properties,” says VP of Agronomy Michael Shoun. “OnLink helps us be better managers of our resources.”

Earlier this year, John McConnell posed a question in his often playful manner: “Who has the most important job at McConnell Golf?” The audience made some guesses but couldn’t quite nail it down. “The mechanic,” he finally explained. “Without mowers and rollers, you can’t provide a superior golf course. And that’s where it all starts.”

While operational efficiency may not be glamorous, it offers members a thriving world of private golf. A world where the phrase “It’s a McConnell course” carries the same meaning from Knoxville to Myrtle Beach.

 

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Growing the Game

by Brad King

 Aug 22, 2017 at 3:30 PM

Junior Golf thrives at Raleigh Country Club

Jim Barnes has been around the junior golf program at Raleigh Country Club since 1973, when he was four-years-old and playing golf with his father. Today his own sons, Avery and Camden, are active in the RCC junior golf program, and Barnes says things have changed quite a bit since he was a kid.

“When I was growing up, there were only about three junior golfers,” he recalls. “I played golf with more retired members during the weekdays than young people. Nowadays at the parent-child tournaments, you’ll have 60 teams.”

Involvement in RCC’s junior golf program, led by Assistant Golf Pro Thomas Walker, has skyrocketed. Walker and his staff host a variety of events during the year, including fall and spring after-school clinics and summer camps, and they’ve fielded numerous successful PGA Junior League teams in the past few years.

LAYING THE GROUNDWORK

Growing the junior golf program was a top priority for McConnell Golf after taking ownership of RCC in 2003. McConnell wanted to emulate the vibrant programs at nearby clubs in Raleigh. A key hire at RCC was Josh Points, who came from Florida, where he was teaching with famed instructor Jim McLean.

“We wanted to follow a pyramid model — growing a big base with beginners, then moving them to intermediate and advanced, then on to high school and college,” says Brian Kittler, RCC’s director of golf operations. “We knew we had the facilities and the instruction to do so.”

Mission accomplished: RCC’s junior golf program is now regularly churning out college golfers, starting a few years back with Cyrus Stewart, who went on to play at Wake Forest and is now pursuing professional golf. Stephen Franken is at NC State now, earning All-ACC honors this past season. Preston Ball (Loyola), Gray Matthews (Sewanee), and Sam Stephenson (UNC Pembroke) have all played collegiate golf, while Parker Gillam is headed to Wake Forest this fall.

“That progress has been really cool to see,” says Kittler. “We’ve grown quite a pipeline. Every graduating class now sends kids to Division I golfing programs. I think we’ve created a culture. Plus, they’re all really great kids.”

FUNDAMENTALS AND MORE

Eleven-year-old Kinsley Smith, a fifth grader at Lacy Elementary, has participated in just about everything offered at RCC at every level during the past few years.

“I remember Kinsley not being able to get the ball airborne two years ago,” says Walker. “Now, she’s one of the best on our Junior League team. She whooped all the boys a few nights ago.”

“She’s really improved. It’s been exciting to see,” says Marcus Smith, Kinsley’s father. “More than anything, it’s the opportunities. They’ve really expanded the program. They’ve added a Saturday series, the summer camps, which have been really good, and they’ve added fall events like they’ve done in the spring. The more you’re out there playing and practicing, the better you’re going to get. It’s fun for her. Golf is an individual game, but the team-based atmosphere, the camaraderie at the camps, and the spring and fall drills ... it makes it fun for the kids.”

Kinsley has now started playing tournaments, including U.S. Kids Golf and she recently started playing in Peggy Kirk Bell Girls Tour events around North Carolina. She’s tried other sports too — dance, gymnastics, and tennis, plus other activities — but according to her father: “She keeps coming back to golf. Now it’s just part of our after-school routine.”

Smith says the RCC staff, along with its world-class facilities, has been key to Kinsley’s rapid improvement.

“Raleigh Country Club has got to have one of the best practice facilities anywhere,” he says. “If you can learn to chip and putt at Raleigh, that game will travel. When you see 30 kids on the putting green, to me that’s awesome. It’s a game of a lifetime. It’s a good gift to give a kid.”

Barnes adds that the lessons taught by Walker and the rest of the RCC team impact young people in ways far more important than just golf.

“They’re focusing on the fundamentals, but they’re also focusing on what we want all young people to learn — to be good teammates, to pull for each other, to be good stewards of the game,” he says. “Winning is secondary. They’re good golfers, but they’re good young people first and foremost. Not all of them are going to be professional golfers, but they’re all going to be adults one day.”

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Where Are They Now?

by Shayla Martin

 Dec 18, 2016 at 9:45 PM

At McConnell Golf the sport of golf is more than just a leisure activity. Members across all 12 clubs train competitively in the hope of one day playing among their idols. Two McConnell Golf members have progressed to amateur and professional levels, and we’re proud to share the recent success of Raleigh Country Club's Grayson Murray and Carter Jenkins.

After receiving a McConnell Golf Junior Scholarship in 2008, Grayson Murray has wasted no time ascending the ranks to the PGA Tour. After the 22-year-old started the year with conditional status on the Web.com Tour and missed the cut in his first event, he tied for 10th place at TPC Wakefield Plantation and then tied for eighth at the BMW Charity Pro-Am. He earned his full-time PGA Tour card for the upcoming season in mid-October by finishing among this year’s top 25 money winners on the Web.com Tour.

“I received the McConnell Golf Junior 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. “I don’t think I would have been the player I am without that scholarship.” The MCG Junior Scholarship is a program designed to offer instruction, practice, and playing opportunities to young golfers who may not have the financial ability to work on their games at first-class facilities. Murray was selected based on his level of talent, need, and commitment to the sport - as well as his proven dedication and value to the future of golf.

A fellow McConnell Golf Scholar is Raleigh native Carter Jenkins, a 2010 recipient who also played in the Rex Hospital Open as an amateur. Like Murray, Jenkins excelled in the amateur and collegiate ranks and is currently playing as a professional on the PGA Canada Tour. A fun fact about Jenkins: He and Grayson Murray were high school golf teammates at Leesville Road High School in Raleigh.

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Experience of a Lifetime

by jessie Ammons

 Jul 06, 2016 at 3:48 PM

Members share their most cherished memories of the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro

"For me the great moment at Wyndham each year is standing with our grandsons at the 18th green and watching them get golf balls, gloves, and hats from the players. Then they run to the scorer’s trailer, waiting for these players to come out and sign the gloves, hats, and other items. I remember that [Arnold Palmer’s grandson] Sam Saunders gave my grandson his hat, then autographed it. Ernie Els signed a golf glove. And many more players have been so very accommodating to the children. Our grandson came on Saturday and could not wait to get back on Sunday. It’s a great weekend and great time for families.”

- Jim Barnes, Raleigh Country Club

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