a letter from John McConnell

Twenty years ago, I made the decision to acquire Raleigh Country Club at the encouragement of my golfing buddy, Benny Dean, who once had been a member. Playing the course as a guest had always been a treat for me as well. I had watched the drama unfold in the newspaper about how the club was in debt for over $6 million. The lending bank was concerned about being repaid its loan proceeds and had sold its club note to a local real estate developer for a discounted value.

Obviously, Raleigh CC’s location in a rapidly growing city would be a prime real estate investment, and certainly not for golf, even if the course was the legendary Donald Ross’ last design. And now the rest of the story can be updated.

Oftentimes, as I reminisce about that unplanned decision to get into the golf and country club business, I am reminded of that country music song by Dierks Bentley, “What was I thinkin’.” This new career direction was a business decision I had not planned or seen coming. Having been involved in software for over 35 years, this venture would prove to be unlike any other experience I had participated in. I was a novice in this industry and made several early mistakes, but we kept our vision of building “Clubs of the Future” at the top of the goal list as we moved forward.

Fortunately, McConnell Golf has benefitted from both a strong capital position and a dedicated management team that took a long-term strategy for building the company. Today our peers view us as a leader and innovator, and we are proud of that reputation and industry standing.

How did we get from one club purchased in bankruptcy to today having 14 owned properties and two managed clubs? Needless to say, it has been a challenging endeavor, but I think the key to our success today is having built a business based on trust with the club boards and members who voted to become part of McConnell Golf. Selling a member-owned club is usually an emotional decision for the board and its membership. Certainly not every member agrees with the decision, and it is important to demonstrate early after closing the benefits of becoming a McConnell Golf property.

For each club we have acquired, we have invested more capital in facilities and operations than our contracts required. This past year we provided $6.2 million in capital improvements among our clubs, and since inception of our company back in 2003, that total is $65 million, and no member assessments were ever implemented to pay for these improvements. Certainly, this is an appealing proposition for all our members.

Our plan for 2023 is to invest several million dollars in facility upgrades and our major focus will be a complete renovation of Old North State Club to regain the status and playability this club enjoyed at its founding. I cannot wait to see the updated golf course that will open for play in early September. We will be updating the greens with Bermuda, rebuilding traps, adding new tees and other improvements which should make summer play more enjoyable.

At our recent company-management retreat, I was impressed with our team’s enthusiasm that creates value for the membership. Today we have over 7,600 members which extrapolates to over 20,000 family members we serve on a routine basis. I am very excited to see the great ideas that will be happening at club events this year to celebrate our 20th year for your participation and enjoyment.

Many of you may remember the old Chinese proverb that, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Twenty years ago, we began a journey at Raleigh CC and after many challenging years, we have a solid business and bright future. It is always a good idea to measure progress in the short term and especially long term as well. In the past 10 years, our revenue growth has been 213% while monthly dues have increased by 194% with all our new acquisitions and membership additions. Thanks to you, our members, for helping us succeed in our journey. We are not at the end of the trip by any means and may the next 20 years be just as much fun for all of us.

Warm regards,

John McConnell, CEO & Founder