Tax burdens put Hillcrest’s 27 holes in limbo

Other courses expected to close soon

By MARK CARTNER

It seems that Hillcrest Golf Course in Winston-Salem has been on life-support for nearly a year, threatening at any moment to draw its last breath.  Now it appears the final gasp is imminent — or is it?

“We’ll probably be open at least through September,” says Don Jones, one of Hillcrest’s three owners and son of the late Bill Jones who opened the course’s first nine holes way back in 1931.  “Beyond that, we really don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Currently all 27 holes remain open and with a full grounds crew still employed, playing conditions are ideal.  However, the clubhouse amenities were severely cut in the fall of 2002, leaving just a counter where little more than light snacks and a greens fee can be purchased.  If the tide changes again, the full operations would be restarted — but a rebirth does not seem likely.

“I’ve really got mixed emotions about all this," says Jones.  "Working this course is all I’ve known, but the taxes will probably make it too hard for us to keep it going.”

The problems began for the Hillcrest ownership (Don, his brother Bob, and their cousin Richard) in 1999.  Inheritance taxes on Bill Jones’ estate soon had to be paid and to raise money the owners planned to rezone about 40 acres of Hillcrest for commercial development.  The original nine, known as Cedar Side, which borders Stratford Road and Somerset Drive, would be sacrificed.  Unfortunately for them, the city of Winston-Salem had other ideas. 

“They wouldn’t let us rezone just 40 acres,” Jones explains. “They said we had to rezone all the property and that it had to be mixed use rather than just commercial.”

So the ownership submitted a rezoning request per the city’s requirements and now faces a heavier tax burden because of it — a burden they say has forced them to try to sell the entire property.   

According to Jones, talks with a potential buyer are in the works, but no agreements have been reached.  All Jones knows is that if the buyer does purchase the property, the golf course will be eliminated.  “Oh, definitely,” he says. “They’ll develop it for commercial and residential use.” 

Joining Hillcrest on chopping block is Longview golf course in Greensboro.  The course, which is now owned by the PTI Airport Authority, could be closed by the end of August to make way for the construction of Painter Boulevard — at least that’s the word from Longview.

“That’s news to me,” says Alan Boone of the Airport Authority.  “Nobody told me that they were closing (on Aug. 31). This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

According to Boone, the course, located on Ballinger Road, is simply operating on a month-to-month basis.  As to what will become of the property when the course is closed, Boone isn’t certain.  “There are no definite plans right now,” he says.

However, another Airport Authority golf course might survive well into the future. 

Bel-Aire golf course, just north of the airport on Pleasant Ridge Road, will continue to operate for at least a year. Although the current lease on the property expires Aug. 31, Boone says a new one-year lease for golf operations will be awarded to one of a handful of bidders.  Included in that group are Jay, Don and Lee Brame, who hold the current lease and are the sons of course’s original owners, A.A. “Red” Brame and his wife Helen Brame.

“We hope to have a decision on the new lease by the middle of the month,” says Boone. “All the bids were due in at the end of July.”  Boone also says that Bel-Aire will be reevaluated after the next lease is up and could continue indefinitely.

Then there is Pine Tree golf course in Kernersville.  The course was supposed to close this past winter, but permitting delays to the spiffy new Caleb’s Creek development have delayed that closing.  Now, according to Pine Tree owner Peter Carpenter, the course will remain open until this winter.  When Pine Tree does close, it will give way to Carpenter’s new upscale, 27-hole semi-private course known as The Country Club at Caleb’s Creek.