SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. – Seventy-two holes of Sandhills golf are transitioning from decades of ownership and management flux into the hands of the long-time ownership group of the venerable Pine Needles, Mid Pines and Southern Pines triumvirate.
The Country Club of Whispering Pines, which opened in 1959 and has two Ellis Maples-designed courses, and Foxfire Country Club, which followed in 1968 with two Gene Hamm-designed courses, have been acquired by Rolling Pines LLC, a newly formed management concern with the parent company of Mid Pines Development Group.
“We see great opportunities in both properties,” says Kelly Miller, managing partner of the new ownership group. “Our goal is to make significant improvements on all four courses and get them on an upward trajectory.
“The Sandhills area is growing, North Carolina is growing, and Raleigh, Sanford and Fort Bragg seem to be getting closer and closer to us. There has been very little new golf built in Moore County in the last 20 years. This is a chance to some polish some classic golf courses from outstanding designers and make them available to the public at a reasonable price.”
Haresh Tharani, who runs his family office’s global investments across various asset categories, including retail, hospitality, and the family hedge fund, is also an avid golfer with a deep appreciation for the game and the sense of community it fosters. Since December 2017, he has been a partner with the Miller and McGowan families—descendants of the late Warren and Peggy Kirk Bell—in the ownership of Mid Pines, later expanding the partnership to include Pine Needles and Southern Pines. His passion for golf, along with his admiration for the beauty and tradition of the game, has only deepened his connection to the Sandhills region. He cites the appeal of the region, the charm of the state of North Carolina, and the exciting potential of the new properties as key motivations for the acquisition.
“I have people frequently complaining about New York,” he says. “I tell them to look at North Carolina. We have four seasons, low taxes, and a healthy business climate. We’re close to the mountains and the coast. And in the middle is the Sandhills, one of the great golf destinations in the country.
“We have a deep commitment to the community and to the state. We believe in buying properties that have a great legacy and tradition, and both of these clubs fit that.”
Miller is the son-in-law of the late Peggy Kirk Bell, who with her husband Warren “Bullet” Bell operated and later owned Pine Needles beginning in 1953. Miller moved to Southern Pines in the early 1980s after he married Peggy Ann Bell and began working for the Pine Needles management staff, working his way up to president and CEO and being hands-on in the company’s 1994 acquisition of Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club and the 2020 purchase of Southern Pines Golf Club.
“Mr. Bell had a regular group that included Andy Page, the head pro at Southern Pines, and Harvie Ward, who was at Foxfire at the time,” Miller says. “They had 12 to 16 guys who played at Pine Needles, Southern Pines, Foxfire and Whispering Pines every week. We had a great time. Over the years, Foxfire and Whispering Pines have had their challenges.
“I have fond memories playing there and have had my eye on them for some time.”
Rolling Pines is purchasing the two properties from GreatLife Golf Management. The new Whispering Pines and Foxfire operation will be separate from the exiting membership structure at Pine Needles, Mid Pines and Southern Pines. Miller and Tharani emphasize they are making a long-term commitment and among initiatives to come are having golf architect Kyle Franz, who has supervised major restorations of the Pine Needles, Mid Pines and Southern Pines courses in the last dozen years, tweak the courses and develop a master plan.
In the near term, guests at the Pine Needles and Mid Pines resorts will have access to the Foxfire and Whispering Pines courses, and under consideration will be various synergies between the five operations.
The village of Whispering Pines is located about five miles north of Pinehurst and Southern Pines, equidistant between Hwy 15-501 to the west and Hwy. 1 to the east. The club was the 1950s brainchild of developer A.B. Hardee, who believed an inviting body of water called Thagards Lake (which measures six miles in circumference), could be the anchor to a residential community that combined water sports, golf and country club life.
The centerpieces of the club are two courses designed by Ellis Maples, who has extensive historical roots in the community and is a member of the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame. He was the son of Frank Maples, who was the construction and course maintenance chief under course architect Donald Ross, and the father of Dan Maples, who has run his golf design firm from an office in the Village of Pinehurst for half a century. Ellis is best known for his work at Grandfather Golf & Country Club in Linville and at the Dogwood Course at the Country Club of North Carolina.
The courses exist today as the River Course and the Pines Course.
“Whispering Pines has great corridors,” Miller says. “They have some great golf there. The routing is really good. I have always been intrigued in the lineage to Pine Needles and Mid Pines because Ellis as a young man worked on the construction of both those courses.”
Foxfire, located about six miles southwest of the village of Pinehurst, was the result of a partnership of Chapel Hill golf enthusiasts who first noticed the land flying over it on a return trip from Myrtle Beach. Real estate broker Jack Vernon and golf professional Ed Kenney were impressed with the 2,000-acre site owned at the time by Roland MacKenzie, a nationally prominent amateur golfer drawn first to the area by competitions on Pinehurst No. 2. The anchor feature is Lake MacKenzie, which poses a formidable water hazard around which early holes on both courses are routed.
Gene Hamm, one of the most formidable course architects in the Carolinas in the mid-1900s and also a member of the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame, designed both courses. The first opened in 1968. Nine more holes followed in 1972 and the facility became a 36-hole operation in 1981. The original Foxfire layout was the host to the ACC Men’s Golf Championship in 1970, 1973 and 1975.
Today they are known as the Red Fox and Gray Fox courses.
“The original Foxfire course was an outstanding course,” Miller says. “I’ve talked to golfers with fond memories of playing the ACC there in the seventies. The courses today take some holes from that original course. There’s some really good golf there.”
“We are deeply committed to the Sandhills region and the state of North Carolina, and our continued investment reflects our long-term dedication to preserving and enhancing its unique character and historic charm,” adds Tharani.