Golf Community Reviews

The pines, the doglegs, the swirling fairways all hint at a design conscious of the charms of Augusta National, just 20 minutes away from Aiken and Mount Vintage Plantation.

    After the Masters ends on Sunday, the sports pundits will spend a lot of ink and airtime telling us all why Trevor Immelman was able to hang on to his lead going into Saturday, or how Retief Goosen re-discovered his putting stroke to master Augusta's greens, or (yet, once again) how Tiger was able to make his move on Saturday and vault the field.  (Note:  I'm picking Stephen Ames to win, for whatever that is worth.)
    But I'd like to read some commentary about where the winners of the Masters have stayed during the event.  I have a feeling it wasn't at a Holiday Inn Express.  This could be useful in future office pools or my annual competition with friends and son (I rarely win, so I am looking for any little advantage).  
    I'm thinking about this especially this weekend because a few years ago, when I visited Mount

Vintage Plantation in the Augusta area, I found out that a few touring pros and their families rented homes there and at the nearby Woodside Plantation.  Some of the homes rented for thousands of dollars a week.    
    If I were competing in the Masters - dream on -- Mount Vintage would be a great choice to relax and practice away from the glare of cameras and hangers on.  The community is probably familiar to many of you from its ads in golf magazines.  The photograph they use looks, at first glance, as if it is of Augusta National.  Front and center is a dead ringer for the famed Hogan Bridge that leads players over Rae's Creek to the 12th green.  Mount Vintage's bridge is paved with green carpeting as well.  The community, in Aiken, SC, features 27 holes of golf with more planned.  Its doglegs and swirling fairways are not a bad place to prep for the Masters, although no substitute for the real thing.  A few faithful readers of this site have purchased property at Mount Vintage and are quite happy with their decision.  One is planning to build what could be the first "green" home in the community.
    Other communities in the Aiken area also attract players from the Masters during the week.  Nearby Woodside Plantation features three golf courses and price points in the mid-six figures and higher, a little bit lower than Mount Vintage's prices.  Cedar Creek features a course by one of my favorite designers, Arthur Hills, and homes that begin around $300,000 and don't push much past $500,000 (the course is open to the public, unlike the others mentioned).  A number of communities have sprouted up in recent years even closer to Augusta, but I have not visited them yet.
    Aiken is a charming southern town, about an hour from the mountains and five times as far from the ocean.  It is less than a half hour from Augusta.  Let me know if you would like an introduction to a qualified real estate agent in the Aiken area.  There is no cost or obligation to you whatsoever.  Also, I dedicated one of my first newsletter articles to Aiken's communities.  Let me know if you would like a copy and I will email it to you (PDF  file).  Just hit the "Contact Us" button at the top of the page.

    This hurricane season is brought to you by the letter O.  Forecasters at Colorado State University are predicting a dangerous hurricane season along the gulf and east coasts of the U.S. this coming summer and fall.  Fifteen storms, they predict, will be worthy of names, and four will be storms to remember, with winds topping 111 miles per hour.  Their colleagues at North Carolina State have made a similar prognostication, predicting that 13 to 15 storms will be name worthy in 2008, one of which will be major in intensity.  We have heard this all before, most recently in '06 and '07, which were duds as far as storms (and predictions) go.  Thankfully, we might add.  If we get to hurricane 15, the names Oliver, Ozzie or perhaps Othello (The Dark Prince) might be in play...
    Hey buddy, wanna buy a mortgage?   Moody's Economy.com reports that mortgage delinquencies in the first quarter of the year increased most in Puerto Rico, Florida and Nevada.  In Puerto Rico, more than 8% of all mortgages were delinquent. The rates in Florida and Nevada were each close to 7%.  The national average for delinquency rates is 3.86%.  Metro areas in California and Florida logged seven of the eight highest delinquency rates, interrupted only by Detroit in 7th place.  Foreclosure rates are tracking more or less with the delinquencies, as are bargain real estate, especially condos, in formerly hot markets.  The Wall Street Journal has a good map of the bad news   ...
    Middle of the Road.  I wrote here some weeks ago that when the time comes for my wife and I to sell our primary home in Connecticut, I plan to invite three real estate agents to "bid" for our listing.  The winner will be the one whose appraisal falls between the other two.  I don't want to give it to the one who provides the lowest estimate; he probably wants a quick sale.  I also won't give it to the agent with the highest appraisal on the theory that she thinks our house is worth more than it is, or might be just trying to appeal to our emotional connection to the home in which we raised our kids.  According to an article in the Hartford Courant's real estate section this past Sunday, a homeowner in the town next to ours put his own wrinkle on my approach.  After receiving two appraisals $100,000 apart, he took matters into his own hands.  He listed the home right in the middle of the two estimates, at $849,000 and is selling it himself...
    To retire and move, or not to.  With the economy in recession mode, the newspapers are filled with stories about folks who are putting off retirement and staying put wherever they are.  But is that necessary or what they really want?  One way to test your assumptions and hang out with others in similar situations is to consider a unique weekend in beautiful Asheville, NC.  The University of North Carolina's Center for Creative Retirement , located on the Asheville branch's campus, is holding a Creative Retirement Exploration Weekend May 23 - 25, which is Memorial Weekend.  About 150 people from 26 states will consider whether this is indeed the right time to relocate.  The weekend will be lighter on financial justifications and more about personal issues related to choosing a retirement location.  The Center has an excellent reputation, and you could do a lot worse than a weekend in the mountains of Asheville.  I devoted most of an issue of my newsletter, HomeOnTheCourse, to Asheville's beautiful and diverse communities.  Contact me and I will be happy to email you a copy with my compliments and good wishes.

The par 4 first hole on Rees Jones' Tuckahoe nine has all the ingredients of the best mountain courses. 

    The Wintergreen Resort near the Blue Ridge Highway in western Virginia is not top of mind when it comes to golf vacations in the east, especially with the Greenbrier and Homestead just a few hours away.   But if you catch the weather right in January, and you are so inclined, you could get in some skiing on the top of the resort's 4,000 foot high mountain in the morning and 18 quick holes in the afternoon on the fine Stoney Creek course at the base of the mountain.
    Now, with significant renovations to Rees Jones' 27 hole layout at Stoney Creek, there is even more reason to put it on your list of places to play and, potentially, to live.  You won't ski in June, but you will play a mighty fine group of holes.
    I visited Wintergreen a few years ago and played the Shamokin and Tuckahoe nines.  The Tuckahoe course was recently renovated with a special new grass planted throughout.  The new Cavalier zoysia replaces the previous bent grass fairways, according to a report in the Golf Club Industry newsletter.  In addition, the club added six new tees and 300 yards in length; the Tuckahoe nine now stretches to 3,800 yards at the tips.  All nine greens were resized to Jones' original specifications and replanted with a tight bent grass the course managers believe will result in smoother putting surfaces.
    The resort includes an additional 18 holes at Devil's Knob on the top of the mountain.  The course, designed by Ellis Maples, includes sloping fairways and dramatic views.  Because of its altitude, it is closed during late fall and winter months; the Ross nines remain open all year.
    Attractive homes dot the mountains surrounding the courses at Wintergreen.  A nice lot at 6/10 of an acre along the 17th hole at Devils Knob is listed at  $159,000.  Charlottesville, home to the University of Virginia, is about 40 minutes away.  If you are interested in Wintergreen, contact me and I will put you in touch with a real estate specialist who knows this interesting and impressive community.

Water comes into play on a number of holes on Wintergreen's Tuckahoe nine.

    I have been thinking about the yips these last two days.  You know the yips, that disease that causes us to miss short putts with annoying frequency and then infects all other aspects of our game.  When we have the yips, we line up our two footers only half expecting to make them and then fulfill the baser half of our expectations.  And the day before, we didn't even bother to line ‘em up.
    I watched the Memphis University Tigers lose the NCAA national basketball championship on Monday night because of the yips.  They had the game in the bag with about two minutes to go.  But then they turned into Scott Hoch at the Masters two decades ago.  Hoch, you may recall, was one two-foot putt away from a title that would have changed his life.  On the first hole of a playoff with Nick Faldo, Hoch hit perhaps the worst short putt in the history of pressure golf, giving the steely Brit all the opportunity he needed.  Hoch carried his burden to the next hole where he missed the green and his only good chance at the green jacket.
    A foul shot (or free throw) in basketball is like a short putt in golf, with nothing but air between player and hole, no distractions other than the beating of the heart and the customary loud fans, but still close to automatic for the best players when there is no pressure.  On Monday, having defied the critics by making nearly 70% of their shots from the charity stripe during the five previous tournament games, Memphis hit just one of their final five free throws in the last two minutes of regulation.  The first guy short-armed his shot, and then he did it again, and then the next guy did the same.  
    And, of course, as Nick Faldo did 19 years ago this week, Memphis' opponent, Kansas, smelled blood in the water.  The game's outcome was decided before the overtime began.  
    Of his missed two-footer in 1989, Hoch could have been speaking for Memphis and the rest of us when he said: ''Between my brain and my hands, it [the putt] didn't get the message.  It got crisscrossed.''
    We know Scott.  We know.

The 11th green at North Shore looks out across the marsh toward North Topsail Island.

    There are plenty of out of bounds stakes around the periphery of the North Shore Country Club golf course (see review of the community in yesterday's article, below).  They guard the backyards of the many nicely landscaped, mostly brick homes that frame the holes of the Sneads Ferry, NC, course.  But unless you hit the ball a mile sideways, you are likely to see the white stakes only on your rides along the cart paths.
    The relatively flat Bob Moore layout, opened in 1988, is quite generous with its fairways, making it an especially good track for those with handicaps of 12 and above and a good walking course as well.  It will appeal also to lady golfers who carry handicaps in the high teens and above.  Its 6,300 yards from the white, or men's tees, seemed shorter than that, perhaps because I struck the ball pretty well on the late March day I played.  Still, I could not get close to any of the par 5s in two shots.  Water for the most part is not much in play, although on the 18th hole, lakes must be carried twice.  The hole is listed at 430 but doesn't play that long.  The first lake in front of the tee is easy to carry, but the second one runs from about 135 yards from the green to about 20 yards short of the front of the green.  On the ninth hole, a carry of about 190 yards is necessary to clear a lake between tee and fairway, and on number 10, a stream cuts across the fairway about 30 yards from the green.
    Fairway bunkers guard many of the doglegs, but again, the landing areas are so wide that I didn't find any fairway sand all day despite a few wayward drives.  At greenside, the bunkers are a different story, with some pinching the entranceways down to a few yards.  North Shore is at its toughest when pin positions are up front, just over a protecting bunker, and with the greens firm, it was difficult to hit even good approach shots to within reasonable birdie range.
    Conditions were good for this time of the year and after a few days of on and off rain.  I was relegated to cart path only yet encountered only a few mushy areas on my walks to and from fairways and rough.  The sandy soil beneath the fairways appeared to soak up the water well, and the slight elevation of the greens kept them dry.  The greens putted at medium speed, but I didn't have any putts I felt were knocked off line by imperfections in the turf.  The putting surfaces should be quite nice in a month or two and, potentially, fast.  Slicker surfaces will help justify a slope of 128 and 70.4 rating which seemed just a wee bit overstated to me.  Grass in the fairways, growing in little green tufts so far, had a ways to go, but a few warm nights ought to take care of that.   
    The North Shore club is semi-private and generous in its charges for non-members and members alike.  The $80 green fees I paid, cart included, seemed reasonable for the layout and amenities, although North Shore's locker room is quite small.  In order to join the club, you must be a resident of the adjacent community; the $15,000 initiation fee is included in the purchase of most homes and some lots.  General Manager John Russell told me that the residency requirement was not a signal that North Shore may be looking to go private.  Club membership includes access to North Shore's private beach club across the bridge on North Topsail Island.
    Dues for North Shore are quite reasonable at $200 per month for resident members and just $125 for those who use their homes as vacation retreats.  I didn't get to sample the food in the clubhouse at North Shore - the kitchen was closed on a Monday afternoon - but the nice lady at the bar asked if I wanted a hot dog, and she repaired to the kitchen to make one up special for me.  That kind of friendliness extended to the pro shop where everyone, from General Manager Russell to the pro shop staff to the chatty guys at the cart station made me feel like a member.  A few days earlier I had met a North Shore member at the Camp Lejeune collegiate golf tournament; he was matched with my son and another collegian in a kind of pro-am set up.  He spoke enthusiastically about the North Shore community and golf club, where he is a resident and member, and I saw nothing during my visit to qualify his enthusiasm.
    North Shore Country Club will appeal most to golf and beach lovers who don't mind giving up close-by conveniences in exchange for house prices about a third to half lower than comparable golf communities along the Atlantic coast.  If you should be headed south on Highway 17 toward Wilmington and Myrtle Beach, North Shore will provide a nice break and round of golf and, perhaps, a place for a vacation or retirement home.
    North Shore Country Club, Highway 210, Sneads Ferry, NC.  (800) 828-5035.  Designer:  Bob Moore.  Championship (Blue) tees:  6,866 yards, rating 73.1, slope 135.  Men's (White) tees:  6,358, 70.4, 128.  Red (Ladies) tees:  5,039, 69.2,126.  Initiation fee ($15,000; often included in home purchase); monthly dues $200.  Non-resident monthly dues:  $125.
    For a connection to a qualified real estate agent in the area who can provide you with information on all available real estate in North Shore or out on the beach at nearby North Topsail Island, please contact me.  There is no cost or obligation to you whatsoever.

 When no homes are in view, the backdrops at North Shore are especially impressive.

    U.S. airlines are always moaning about the cost of fuel.  Logic would dictate that they pass those costs along to the flying public, based on how much fuel we use per passenger (that is, how many miles we fly). 

    But logic has nothing to do with air travel.  Today I tried to book airline tickets for four family members from Myrtle Beach to San Francisco this coming August.  Myrtle Beach is an expensive airport to fly in and out of, and the costs, at more than $500 per ticket, were well beyond what I intended to spend.

    We have had good luck flying out of Charleston airport, about 100 minutes south of Myrtle Beach.  I checked prices from Charleston to San Francisco for the same dates in August.  The best connections were on US Airways, with all flights requiring a change of planes in Charlotte, NC.  The costs seemed reasonable at $362 per ticket.  But then I figured that, since there were four of us and any further savings on the cost of the tickets would be compounded, maybe we would drive the 3 1/2 hours to Charlotte and take the non-stop flight to San Fran from there.  It had to be cheaper, even after we paid to park the car for a week.

    Yeah, right.  All non-stop flights from Charlotte, including those we would have connected to from Charleston, were $160 more than the two flights combined (Charleston to Charlotte and Charlotte to San Francisco).  In the twisted world of the airline business, more is less -- the more fuel you use, the less you pay.  

 

An attractive home behind the 16th green at North Shore Country Club's course is on the market for $585,000, reasonable given its location on the course and within a mile of the ocean.  Annual property taxes are an incredibly low $1,275 (2006), although insurance rates are double that because of the threat of hurricanes. 

    For many who love the beach and golf, living within sight of both is an unattainable goal.  On one hand, relatively few places on the eastern seaboard provide those two features in one lot; I've seen it at the Ocean Club at Kiawah, Wild Dunes on Isle of Palms and at communities in Florida.  But even when you find them, such properties carry price tags only the very rich can afford.
    But if you are willing to live within short driving range of a beach, rather than on it, you can combine the two lifestyles. Our family has something like that in our vacation home in Pawleys

Plantation in South Carolina.  Our condo sits on the 15th tee of Jack Nicklaus' circa 1989 layout, and our trip over the bridge to one of the nicest beaches on the east coast, Pawleys Island, takes all of six minutes.  Up the road at The Reserve at Litchfield Beach - not really on the beach but with private access to a nice one three minutes drive across Highway 17 - some lots are still available along the neat Greg Norman course.  The best combination of golf and beach property in the Pawleys area is at DeBordieu Colony, where Pete Dye fashioned a mostly wide-open layout that snuggles up within earshot of the waves but never quite within eyeshot of them.  From one of the big homes directly on the ocean at DeBordieu, the clubhouse and first tee are a five-minute walk or one-minute cart ride away.
    However, that house on DeBordieu's oceanfront has a market value of $5 million.  And the limited number of remaining lots on the golf courses at The Reserve and Pawleys Plantation exceed the $300,000 mark, making a total investment in a home beginning around $800,000, after construction costs.
    So what are passionate beach nuts and golf lovers to do if they only have, say, $500,000 or less to spend?  They could start by looking into the North Shore Country Club community in Sneads Ferry, NC, less than a mile from the ocean.  The club sits literally at the foot of the bridge to North Topsail Island, and a few of the course's holes run along the attractive Intra-coastal Waterway.  North Shore members enjoy access to a private beach area on the island, although they are welcome to use the many other public beach access points along Topsail's main road.
    Although no one can testify truthfully that Sneads Ferry offers abundant conveniences, still it is only 40 minutes or so to Wilmington International Airport, a modern, pleasant facility that is large enough to handle fair-sized jets but small enough to have its rental cars parked just outside the terminal.  (No need to take an annoying, time-consuming shuttle bus.)  Sneads Ferry does not have a Wal-Mart or any other store of consequence, save for a recently built CVS pharmacy.  The town's rural nature will be part of its charm for some - remote, with a classic beach atmosphere. 

    Charming also are the property taxes, which are levied by the county, not the town of Sneads Ferry, and run less than $2,000 annually for virtually all homes.

The town of Jacksonville, home to the Camp Lejeune Marine base, is about 20 minutes away if you need to scratch the itch to shop or to try out the base's 36 holes of golf open to the public (see earlier reviews).
    More upscale shopping and fine dining will require the 40-minute drive to Wilmington.  But Sneads Ferry and the nearby oceanfront Surf City do offer good seafood places with simply prepared dishes at reasonable prices.  I had a large, fresh, well-prepared combo shellfish dinner ($17.00) at the local Green Turtle restaurant, just five minutes from North Shore and with nice views out toward the ocean and a solicitous owner who visits every table to ensure his customers are happy. They seemed to be.
    The II Beauchaines in Surf City had opened for the season a few days before I visited, and I admired the restaurant's pleasant vibe, friendly servers and views out to the marsh, even if I prefer the grits in my shrimp and grits made with chicken broth and cream rather than water.  But the large plate of Cajun-seared Ahi Tuna appetizer, served properly chilled, was a big winner.  I watched the NCAA basketball tournament one evening from a bar stool at Rick's Bar and Restaurant in Sneads Ferry, a jam-packed, loud and convivial place with better than average food (the steak was cooked to my liking and tender, if not overly flavorful).  The pre-meal salad was terrific, and the prices were modest.
    North Shore, which is not gated and has three separate entrances, was developed as a series of distinct neighborhoods within the larger community; one neighborhood has its own homeowner's association, but there is one overriding association for the entire community.  The higher-end homes - the vast majority selling for less than $600,000 - feature much brick, an attractive and sturdy barrier against the hurricanes Sneads Ferry endures every decade or so.  Other neighborhoods sport home exteriors more indigenous to the low country, such as hardy plank.  A few of the older homes in these neighborhoods are available at less than $400,000.  There are no multi-family dwellings in North Shore.
    Behind the 16th green, a home at the high end of the market and on a nicely landscaped 1/3-acre (see photo at top) is listed for $585,000, golf membership included (a $15,000 value).  Annual property taxes in 2006 were just $1,275.  As a sign of the times in a post-Katrina world, combined homeowner, wind and hail insurance runs $2,500 per year, but the total tax and insurance burden is the lowest I have encountered this close to the ocean.
    Sneads Ferry is about 10 minutes from Highway 17, the main north/south route along the coast.  I have established an excellent real estate contact in the area, so if you are headed that way and want to stop for a tour of North Shore and/or a round of golf, let me know.  I would be happy to make the connection for you at no cost or obligation whatsoever (other than the modest green and cart fees you will pay).  Use the "Contact Us" button at the top of the page. 

 

   The beach at North Topsail Island has suffered significant erosion in recent years, but there is still plenty of sand available for North Shore club members, who have access to their own sandy spot.  The oceanfront Atlantis Resort is a popular place for weddings, even on a cold March day.

 

COMING TOMORROW:  A REVIEW OF NORTH SHORE'S GOLF COURSE

    In 1984, my wife and I moved to Connecticut from New York City.  We bought a house in a nice neighborhood 12 miles outside of Hartford at a bargain price.  Two years later, after some modest cosmetic improvements, we sold the house for a tidy profit and bought a 200-year-old house 15 minutes away.

  We invested in more than the cosmetics in this old house; we broke through one wall to open up the kitchen and updated other parts of the home.
    Then came the two kids, and after five years, the house, which fronted on a heavily trafficked road, became inappropriate for our family.  In the teeth of a housing recession and massive layoffs in manufacturing in the Hartford area, we wound up selling the house at almost a $100,000 loss (improvements included).
    Today, looking up from reading an article in the Wall Street Journal, I asked my wife if maybe she thought we should have sued the people who sold us that old house.  "They should have warned us we might lose money," I said.  She rolled her eyes.  But, you see, I was reading in the Journal about Michael Trombley, former major league baseball pitcher who, three years ago, along with friends and family, invested $2.2 million in a condo-hotel project in Clearwater, FL.  The condo-hotel concept is based on the owners of the units receiving income when the units are rented to vacationers.  You can guess the rest; Trombley et al have lost on paper about 60% of their investment.  His carrying costs are $14,000 a month.  It is a story that sounds too familiar.
    "They were always trying to preach to people that the market is hot," said Mr. Trombley of the developers. "This is a no-brainer. You'd better get in quick." Mr. Trombley, 40 years old, lives in Fort Myers just down the Gulf coast from Clearwater.  
    Trombley's attorney is suing the developers for securities law violations.  The contention is that the developers should have registered the units as securities and, therefore, have supplied a prospectus.  Presumably, the prospectus would have indicated that Mr. Trombley could possibly lose money on his investment. (My recollection from 2005 was that many news articles were already talking about an overheated market.)  We are supposed to believe that Mr. Trombley and all the other investors who took a flyer on Florida and Vegas condos would have had an aha moment while reading the fine print and then backed away.
    If you believe that, I have some oceanfront property in Nevada for you.

    The Journal article is here.