Golf Community Reviews

           Route 56 east of Interstate 81 in western Virginia is a winding road as it snakes its way up the mountain.  In a few places, the road doubles back on itself and, at one point, a speed sign of 55 MPH is set just a ¼ mile before a hairpin turn.  A drive up the famous Lombard Street in San Francisco is good prep for VA State Highway 56.  You won't find more than two or three driveways for about five miles along the road and very few areas to pull over if you need to stop.  Get stuck, and you won't be turning around -- or backing down the mountain.  Your rescuers will have to tow you up the mountain to the nearest lodge or farm, assuming they have a driveway wider than a mountain lane.

         That five-mile drive to the Sugar Tree Inn a few miles above the don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it town of Vesuvius is challenging, but it is nothing compared to what awaits from the foot of the Inn's driveway to its lodge and comfortable cabins.  A single-lane perched

above the gorge below, with no guardrails on either side but only tiny little squares of paper stamped with maple leafs to guide the way (and show the boundary of the driveway above the abyss).  With a hard right and then an immediate hard left turn along the way, Sugar Tree's advertising might have recommended "Not for SUVs with large hoods" because, in spots, the road dipped up before it continued down, making a view of what lay ahead a guess at best.  Later, innkeeper Becky Chanter would tell me that, in seven years, no one had been pulled out of the gorge.  My guess is they just haven't found the cars yet (kidding).

         As if to compensate for the challenge of the ride in, Sugar Tree provides you with the means of a relaxing getaway, with few distractions, and at a reasonable price (we paid $148 per night).  Our cabin was comfortable, warm and dry on a drizzly night, one of the four units in a square log building perched against the side of the hill.  We arrived along with a couple just returning from dinner, and as we parked our car to carry our bags in, the woman asked me:  "Where do we get keys for the room?"  Sorry, I said, having done my homework:  "There are no keys."  All rooms lock from the inside, but when you leave for a day of mountain touring or, in our case, parents weekend at Washington & Lee College in Lexington, take only your valuables with you.  In our three days at Sugar Tree, the only sign of entry to the room was a made bed by the housekeeper.  Nothing else was disturbed, and I suspect nothing ever is; Sugar Tree is too far from anything to attract bad intentions, and non-guests or non-employees would stick out like a sore thumb.  I felt our room was totally secure, despite the open door policy.

         Sugar Tree has much to recommend it, especially for couples seeking a romantic getaway.  Our room, The Skyline, was nicely sized, with a working fireplace and plenty of logs just outside the door.  Closet space was fine for a long weekend's worth of hanging clothes, and the one dresser can accommodate all folded clothing.  Although there is no TV in the room, which bugged me a little during the World Series, a boom box with a radio was enough to pull in a New York radio station that carried the game.  There was no desk or dressing table in our room, and do not count on Internet service, wireless or otherwise, anywhere on property except for the main lodge, where a connection via satellite is at the mercy of cloud cover, according to co-innkeeper Jeff Chanter.  Noting my struggles to connect early one morning, Jeff made some magic adjustments to his router, and I was able to get in an hour of work time.

Our comfortable room, the Skyline, at top left, had a nice view to to mountains behind and beyond.

 

         The breakfast part of the B&B experience at Sugar Tree was excellent for our three-day stay and featured Becky's signature baked oatmeal every morning.  It was a little on the dry side for my tastes, but the side complements of baked apples and cranberries one day and sautéed bananas another were the perfect wet toppings.  Sugar Tree offers a different egg dish daily, and our rotation included straight scrambled, scrambled with peppers,  and a frittata that was delicious and light, almost pudding-like, but whose parmesan foundation perfumed the entire lodge (a big smack in the face as I opened the front door at 7:30 in the morning).

         A few quibbles with Sugar Tree include a disappointing lack of attention to housekeeping.  On our first morning, I went to use the in-room coffee maker and found the coffee carafe had not been washed from the prior tenant's use.  One of the nice round soaps the Inn provides did not last two days use in the shower, but when we returned the second evening, the little soap shards we had left were still there.  The Chanters need to do a little more training of their housekeeping staff.

         A small attitude adjustment could help the Sugar Tree Inn as well.  At breakfast one morning, my wife complimented Becky on the frittata and asked how she made it.  "Sorry," said the innkeeper, "I can't tell you."  The food, though good, was not quite state-secret material, and every time I have asked an innkeeper for a recipe -- I have a fabulous one for granola from The Hummingbird in Goshen, VA -- it has been offered enthusiastically. 

         Earlier that same morning, before my wife arrived for breakfast, I listened as one guest recounted her previous night's pleasant dining experience at an inn down the road.  "Well, I'm glad," said the innkeeper, who didn't exactly sound glad (they serve dinner at Sugar Tree).  "We have had a lot of guests tell us it is terrible."  "Well, the food and service were quite good," responded the guest as Becky retired to the kitchen.  She emerged a minute later and reminded the guest, again, that her other guests had trashed the competitor.

         Trashing the competition is not only indiscreet but also insulting to the customer who, after all, is endorsing the experience.  It may take a tough woman to run a complicated operation, but her snootiness stole a bit of the romance from the weekend.

         Sugar Tree Inn, Vesuvius, VA.  13 rooms in five buildings, including the main lodge.  Rates begin at $148 per night.  Phone: 800-377-2197.  Web:  www.sugartreeinn.com.  The nearest golf courses are 30 minutes away in Buena Vista (Vista Links) and Lexington (Lexington Country Club).  The latter is private but permits public play most days.  Call ahead to check availability.

          Balsam Mountain Preserve, an upscale golf community a half hour from Asheville, NC, seemed to have everything going for it when it opened in 2001.  Its developers, Chaffin & Light, had an excellent reputation for high quality and delivering on promises.  Balsam Mountain is a drop-dead gorgeous, 4,400-acre mountain property, most of it to remain preserved through a land trust.  It is close, but not too close, to everyone's favorite mountain town, Asheville, and even closer to the charming Waynesville.  And the community's Arnold Palmer golf course, though a little over-designed on some holes, features some of the best views from any mountain track I have played.

         It was a surprise, therefore, to learn on October 14 (as I wrote here then) that Chaffin & Light had defaulted in January on their $20 million in loans and was facing foreclosure, and that the golf course had closed, at least temporarily.   Yet some of the community's residents, who had paid $500,000 and more for their lots, decided to dig deep to protect their investments.  According to the Smoky Mountain News, some of them developed plans to pay the developer's note and finance the amenities themselves.  As of last week, they had raised more than $16 million to try to fend off the foreclosure.

         Unlike at some other high-end golf communities that opened just prior to the housing bust, Balsam Mountain Preserve did not attract speculators but rather owners who actually planned to build there.  This explains why the owners seem willing to go all in to preserve The Preserve and their investments.  If their plans work, other such high-end communities on the cusp of foreclosure will have a model to follow.

         You can read the Smoky Mountain News article by clicking here.

Palmer Design built lots of drama into the mountaintop course at Balsam Mountain Preserve (3rd hole shown).  Property owners and developer Chaffin & Light are facing some drama of their own.

         At The Conservatory at Hammock Beach in Palm Coast, FL, the Ginn Resort firm once offered lots in the $300s to $500s range.  Last week, one of those lots, with a view of the lake, sold at a tax deed sale for a little over $15,000.  It had been 100% financed by a bank mortgage the owners could not repay (or chose not to).  Since the bank declined to bid on its own property, the property went to tax sale.  The Conservatory features a well-regarded Tom Watson golf course that is up and running, and the facilities of the adjacent Hammock Beach Resort -- not apparently in any immediate risk of solvency issues -- are available to Conservatory owners.

         Last week, I received an email from Tennessee National, a sleek golf community near Knoxville, TN, that was developed by Greg

Norman's Medalist Company.  They are offering lots in the Watts Barr Lake section of the development for as little as $29,900.  The lot immediately adjacent to the $29,900 property, their emailed advertisement shouts, sold for $173,000.  The Norman-designed golf course in the community is challenging and scenic, featuring sod-faced bunkers and river views.

         In both cases, buyers looking to build eventually in a top community with a well-regarded golf course can purchase the lot with what amounts to a little more than pin money.  But behind the bargains there are stories; there are always stories.  In the case of The Conservatory, you have a bankruptcy of the Ginn organization, zero new construction of homes, an iconic clubhouse that is closed, dozens of properties in foreclosure, and property owners who have just stopped paying the homeowner associations dues.  And reports are that the golf course has closed a few days a week to save money.

         At Tennessee National, the story behind the bargain prices is simpler but, in some ways more damaging to future returns, according to local sources and news articles.  Sludge that was dredged from the nearby Watts Barr Lake, which was polluted by runoff after heavy rains in the area, was dumped in a local landfill that is close to the properties being offered at a bargain.  The lake, some say, is temporarily "dead" (dead fish, etc.) and a landfill always savages property prices in a nearby neighborhood.

         More and more, "bargains" like these in otherwise high-end communities are coming on the market, and the temptation is to think the prices are a consequence of a bad economy only.  They are not.  The economy only pours fuel on the fire.  Words to the wise:  Do your homework before you ever even consider one of these type "bargains," and when you are satisfied the reward might be worth the risk, engage a buyer's agent to represent your interests.  They won't charge you a fee but they could save you money and heartaches.

 

        Yesterday, we shared the comments and photos of one of our readers, John Hangen of Maine, who reported on his and wife Ann's visit to the Stonewall Resort in West Virginia.

        The piece reminded another dedicated reader, Rick Vogel of Asheville, of a recent trip to Mobile, AL.

        "We passed a number of the RTJ [Robert Trent Jones] sites on our way from Asheville to Mobile last week," Rick wrote. "Coming from Alabama, a state not known for cutting-edge innovation, the Trail was a stroke of golf genius.

        "I remember the Wall Street Journal said it was one of the biggest golf bargains in the country," Rick added, "and the NY Times, not to be outdone, said it was some of the best golf on earth."

I've been there, and could not agree more. 

         Thanks Rick.

Oxmoor Valley near Birmingham is one of 26 superb courses along the Robert Trent Jones Trail in Alabama.

         One of our dedicated readers, John Hangen of Aroostook County, Maine, about as far north as you can get in the continental U.S., has reported from a road trip he and wife Ann are taking on the way to Florida.  He sent some great photos from the Stonewall Resort in West Virginia where, he writes, the temperatures hit a balmy 70 degrees plus last week.

         The state of West Virginia, perhaps mimicking the successful experiment in Alabama, where the Robert Trent Jones Trail has solidified the state teachers' pension, owns Stonewall.  The Stonewall golf course is one of those dramatic Arnold Palmer layouts, although this one appears to show The King a bit more restrained (if the pictures don't lie).

         John and Ann had plenty of company during their golf round at Stonewall, as the photo below attests. The photo at bottom indicates they also played a nice looking golf course.

         Safe travels to them both.

 

          The next time you are in the Springfield, MA, area, check out Tekoa Country Club, an 18-hole layout in the town of Westfield.  Grab the clubs out of the trunk, head into the pro shop, and plop down your $25 green fees.  Make sure you walk -- the course is flat, although distant mountains are in view -- to assure that you soak in holes 2, 3, 4, 14 and 15 the way famed golf architect Donald Ross meant them to be.

         Most New England Ross courses are private, so it is a treat to play them or even, as I did on a tight schedule, grab a cart and drive along them.  All the typical Ross elements are there at Tekoa -- the generous fairways, the appropriately placed but demure bunkers (demure compared with the monsters that folks like Fazio and Palmer design these days), and the contoured greens.  Only one of the greens I inspected, the fourth, seemed severely contoured, its entire left side a good 10 inches above the rest of the surface.  But, of course, Ross' greens are legendary for subtle, as well as visible breaks, and until you actually putt them, don't count on them being as flat as they look.

         Tekoa has stories to tell, having first opened four holes in 1890 adjacent to Westfield State College, and then commissioning Ross to develop a nine-hole course in 1923.  Across State Highway 20, outlines are still visible of the four holes of Ross' nine that did not survive.  In 1961, Tekoa invited the ubiquitous New England architect Geoffrey Cornish to expand the course to a full 18; he added 13 of his own holes, retaining five of Ross' originals.  According to the Tekoa web site, "A few of Cornish's ideas and features were lost in translation" by the company that did the construction work; translated, that probably means the earth pushers did not build to Cornish's specifications.  Just as likely, the designer was not happy.

         Nevertheless, today, after one of the kindly pro shop attendants loaned me a cart for a ride on the front nine, I find myself hoping for one of those New England Indian summers that make sweater golf possible well into November.  The turf at Tekoa seemed in fine shape, especially the greens, and putting on well-conditioned Donald Ross greens is an experience worth the bargain green fees of $25 to play those five original holes, and 13 other good ones.

        Tekoa Country Club's web site is: http://www.tekoacc.com.  The pro shop phone number is (413) 568-1064.

The 3rd hole at Tekoa is a 177-yard par 3 that is mostly all carry over a pond.  Designer Donald Ross snuggled the green against a hill on the right, making it possible to bounce a sliced shot toward the green -- or get stuck on the hill in the gorse.  Bailout here is as tough as hitting the green.

The green at the short par 5 4th hole is severe, even by Ross standards, with an elevated section at left and a drop-off to the right of the green.  As on many Ross-designed courses, there is only one safe play -- to the heart of the green.

          The Nationwide Tour is on Daniel Island this weekend, just outside of Charleston, SC.  The event is being played on the Rees Jones golf course, companion to an earlier-built Tom Fazio layout.

         Daniel Island is one of those golf communities that combines great golf, great location and the full range of local services, some that do not require turning the ignition key in the car.  An on-island shopping center is within walking distance of some of the town homes on the main part of the island.  Others, even those who opt to live in one of the nicely landscaped and large single family homes the surround the two golf courses, won't have more than a five minute drive, and with Mt. Pleasant and Charleston within 15 minutes, the sky's the limit in terms of shopping, world-class restaurants and major medical centers.

         I played the Tom Fazio course on Daniel Island last summer, and although I found the golf attendants around the bag drop less than attentive to one guest's needs, especially for a club whose initiation membership fee is $80,000 for residents, the golf course was well conditioned and typical Fazio, which is to say attractive to the eye and not brutally challenging.  The leader after the first two days of the Nationwide Tour event on the Jones course is 11 under par, so it hasn't exactly beaten up the pros, but local sources tell me it is tougher than the Fazio course.

        Daniel Island offers real estate to suit most budgets and lifestyles.  The main area of town homes and Charleston-style single-family houses begin in the mid six-figures.  For example, a 2,700 square foot, three-bedroom, 2 ½-bath attached home in the Pierce Park section of the island is currently listed at $449,000.  Homes near the golf course begin near $1 million and proceed from there. 

        I published a full review of the course and community here a few months ago.  For access to it, click here.  I have excellent contacts on and around Daniel Island and Mt. Pleasant, and would be happy to introduce you to a qualified agent who can share more information about this all-in-one golf community.  Just use the contact button on the top of the page.

Houses around the Fazio course at Daniel Island are well out of range.  The large bunkers are another story.

        Existing home sales jumped 9.4 percent from August to September and an almost identical amount from September last year to this year, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors.  In his typical cheerleading fashion, the NAR's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, centered the economic universe on housing.

        "Despite spectacular gains in the stock market, principally from the financial sector recovery," Yun said today, "most of the 75 million home owning families have more wealth tied to their homes." 

        Financial sector recovery?  In Yun's definition, financial sector is Wall Street only -- no banks, no insurance companies.  It doesn't

matter that the banks have tightened up on lending and deferred to the government to encourage purchases.  Yun defines the financial sector to fit his argument, not reality.

        "Home values could soon turn consistently positive and help the broad base of middle-class families, but we are not there yet."

        Of course they "could turn consistently positive," but will they?  This is the guy who hundreds of thousands of real estate agents, as well as consumers, look to for pithy observations.  Thank you, Captain Obvious.

        "We're getting early indications of price stabilization, but we need a steady supply of qualified buyers to meaningfully bring inventories down and return us to a period of normal, steady price growth and to fully remove consumer fears, which would then revive the broader economy."

        What a bunch of bull!  Intellectual honesty cries for testimony that no one knows anything about price trends in this market.  More foreclosures loom as more variable loans reset.  And all bets are off regarding jobs and their effect on housing.  Indeed for even a cigar store economist to make reference to consumer fears and never mention jobs is to reveal himself yet again as a shameless flack.