High point: You can see most of the layout, community and Blue Ridge Mountains from the highest elevations of the Reems Creek golf course.

    Reems Creek does not provide the sleek, sophisticated country club experience of other communities in the Asheville, NC area.  Its links-style golf course is semi-private, permitting daily fee play, although members receive preferential starting times.  Houses are fairly close to the golf course perimeter, somewhat encroaching visually on the golfing experience, but the designers made sure to bury some of the routing below the house line.  That causes the layout, designed by the English firm Hawtree & Son, to feature some unnervingly blind shots and some bizarre lay-ups, such as a five-iron tee shot on a par four.  Water comes into play only on two holes. 

    At less than 6,500 yards from the tips, the layout is not long, but it is tricky enough to warrant a rating of 71.9 and slope of 133.  From the white tees, at just 6,100 yards, the course will present little challenge to those with less than low-teens handicaps.  The golf course was in fine shape when we played it a little over a year ago, although the fairway grass was a little thin, and it offered enough high-risk, high-reward shots to be worthy of a return trip someday.
    Greens fees are a bargain at $49 on the weekends (just $44 during the week).  Fees are even less if you hold an "area's resident" card.  Non-equity membership initiation is just $5,000, which includes pool, tennis courts and driving range that aims straight up a hill toward a pair of houses we estimated were about a John Daly drive away.  Dues are quite low at $170 per month, and we found it charming that members are not billed for their dues; "It is the member's responsibility to pay," says the membership information sheet.     

    Reems Creek is located in Weaverville, about a 20-minute drive north of Asheville.  The course and surrounding real estate is owned by the developers of Kenmure, a more upscale community about a half-hour south of Asheville.  What Reems Creek may lack in panache, it more than makes up for in real estate prices considerably lower than other area golfing communities. It is still possible to purchase a Reems Creek lot with mountain and/or golf course views for less than $100,000 and, if you don't need the golf view, for around $50,000 for a half-acre.  New homes start at around $300,000.  Exterior house styles in the community are eclectic; we saw the entire range, with some brick, some wood, some plantation style and some that appeared almost New England colonial.    

    The town of Weaverville supplies all services to Reems Creek, including public water and sewer.  Utilities are underground, preserving the nice views from most spots in the development.   The homeowners association is "voluntary" and, therefore, owners are not assessed any fees.  Supermarkets, houses of worship and fast-food restaurants are within just 10 minutes, with a hospital, university, cultural and entertainment options and fine dining an additional 10 minutes away.  Asheville Airport is a good 30 minutes.
    Not as high in elevation and price points as other communities in the Asheville area, Reems Creek is not lowdown by any means.  From the high point at the middle of the golf course, you can see just about the entire community and the rest of the course.  Views of mountain ridges from local homes are good, and views from them of the golf course are excellent.  The popular city of Asheville is a convenient 20 minutes away.  Housing is about 20% less than in other golf course communities within an hour, and Reems Creek golf fees are tens of thousands of dollars less than local private clubs.
    We have more information on Asheville and its golf course communities.  Send us a note, and we will be happy to fill you in.  If you are interested in exploring the Asheville area's golfing communities, let us know and we will provide you with the name and contact information of an agent who can take you through those communities that best suit your interests.  We do this at no cost or obligation to you.

Five-iron is all you need or want at the 348-yard par 4 5th hole at Reems Creek. 

    This post is a little late today.  The Simsbury, CT, Westminster School's golf team is coming to dinner tonight, what they call succinctly a "team feed."  I've been out all morning trying to do the impossible; i.e. figure out just how much a group of 14 teenagers will eat for dinner.  Quality of the food is rarely the issue with teenage boys, although we're going to grill some nice marinated chicken and pork.  The issue is always the quantity.  To hedge our bets, we bought enough to feed a small nation.
     The team's season is off to a great start.  With three seniors, a junior and two freshmen on the starting six, they have won 10 of 11 matches and avenged an early loss to Avon Old Farms School with a big win last week.  The group of seniors, which includes my son Tim, is headed to Davidson College, the University of Virginia, and Washington & Lee College (Tim's choice).  It has been fun to follow their progress over the last four years and to see how their games have grown along with their bodies. 

    Most gratifying has been their recognition that they don't get points for hitting the ball as far as possible.  At yesterday's match, I saw as many 3-woods and 5-woods off the tees on tight par 5s as I saw driver.  Slowly, they are learning to use some management techniques on the course.  Double bogies or worse are becoming rare.
    Two huge matches loom for Westminster before the season ends on May 23, including the nine-team league championship and the Kingswood-Oxford Invitational, which includes a strong 25-team field.  In Tim's sophomore year, Westminster won both tournaments and finished with the best record in school history, 45-3.  The team will be trying to run the table and pass that record as a sendoff for the seniors.  The five scores of the six that count toward the team totals will need to be in the 70s for Westminster to have a chance.  We'll chart their progress here as they go for the glory.

    According to the U.S. Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), which keeps track of single-family house prices in more than 200 markets, many metro markets that flew under the radar during the real estate boom are among the hottest ones now, relatively speaking.
    From 4th quarter 2005 to 4th quarter 2006, the Pacific Northwest led the way in price appreciation, capturing the top five spots.  Bend, OR, was #1 with a whopping 21% appreciation year to year.  Bend is somewhat unusual in that it has been in boom mode for the last five years, with an overall appreciation of 105%, but it hasn't received the same publicity as, say, Naples and Las Vegas.  Myrtle Beach, SC, and Wilmington, NC, at 11th and 12th place respectively, were the highest appreciating markets in the southeast, with prices up more than 15%.  Miami/Miami Beach housing appreciated 15% year to year, which is strong confirmation that the condo market there is really in the dumper (remember, the OFHEO report only looks at single-family housing).   Mobile, AL, a city on our list to visit this year, also made the top 20 at #17 with an appreciation rate just under 15%.
    The Wall Street Journal covered this story today and confirmed what we have been saying for months, that Floridians are moving to the Carolinas in significant numbers.  Charlotte, whose price appreciation numbers are +9%, seems to be one of the most popular destinations for Sunshine Staters escaping traffic, insurance rates and the threat of hurricanes.  The Journal even refers to them as "half-backs," a term we picked up on from real estate agents in the southeast over a year ago.
    We feel for the poor soul who lives in Kokomo, IN, and wants to move to, say, Oregon.  Kokomo had the worst appreciation rate of the 282 metro areas that were surveyed, with homes depreciating more than 5% in the last year alone.  Joining Kokomo in the bottom 20 were other markets in the Midwest, California and Nevada.  Price appreciation numbers from markets with communities we have reviewed, and rounded to the nearest whole number, generally showed good to very good results:
    Asheville, NC (+11%); Brunswick, GA (+11%); Charleston, SC (+10%); Charlottesville, VA (+10%); Chapel Hill/Durham, NC (+6%); Greenville, SC (+5%); Jacksonville, FL (+13%); Knoxville, TN (+8%); and Savannah, GA (+12%).

    You can see the entire list at the OFHEO web site . 

    Yesterday in this space we reviewed The Landings at Skidaway Island, just outside of Savannah, GA.  The private, gated community provides as much quality golf as any non-resort in the southeast.  Today we present a few notes on two of the courses at The Landings.

Marsh and moguls are but two of the challenges Arthur Hills throws your way at the Palmetto Club. 

The Palmetto Club

Designer:  Arthur Hills

    A wonderful, challenging layout, with not a single boring hole.  The toughest course of the six at The Landings.  Even seemingly routine par 4s display well-placed live oaks to gobble slightly errant shots.  The marsh provides beautiful framing on some holes, and the undulating greens are well bunkered, with plenty of moguls and swales around them.  Grass on the greens was thin in late February when we played, but they fill in nicely by the spring.
    Our playing partners, Bob and Bill, had 150 years between them.  Bill, a former pharmaceutical exec, and Bob, who owned the last Amercian maker of phonograph needles, had been friends and fellow club members in Waukegan, Illinois. Two other members of their Illinois club had moved to The Landings as well.  With threesomes and foursomes in front of us, we finished the round in less than 3 ½ hours, even though some holes were cart-path only.

    The driving range is ample and heavily used, as is the practice green.  Service was fine, except attendants did not move to get our bags onto a cart, a big miss for a private club.  The clubhouse is the biggest in the community and used for weddings and other affairs.  Lunch was fine, with a small but nice selection including buffet (pot roast plus salads), as well as menu items.  Hallway held a small art show on the walls, courtesy of one of the many women's clubs in the community.

 
Pete Dye may have "invented" railroad ties for golf courses, but Hills knows how to use them too.

Although Fazio's Deer Creek is not a stiff challenge, you cannot relax on many shots. 

Deer Creek

Designer:  Tom Fazio

    Tame Fazio with interesting short doglegs around beautiful live oaks.  Fairway bunkering in play on a number of the easier holes, but the par 5s are pretty tame affairs.  Marsh mostly there as backdrop.  Greens hold shots fairly well -- even though they were a little thin in February -- and they roll true and pretty fast.  Slight to significant break on virtually every putt; we under-read the putts on the front nine, over-read them on the back.  Marsh is not a reliable magnet for putts; a few break away from the water.  Bunkering is tight to the greens. 

    The 17th is picture perfect, with a green backed by long stretch of marsh that begins before mid-fairway to just beyond the rise in the rear of the green.  Putting surface slopes severely back to front.  The 18th is a finishing hole we see often, with marsh down entire right side and a forced third shot over a glob of the marsh and a trap to a pin position that, no matter where it is placed, is tough to get close to.  Back of the clubhouse provides nice view for those cheering you on or feeling your pain.    

    Driving range is fine, with a nice touch for distance markers at the tee -- a small board whose yardages are changed as the tees move forward and back.  Can of water and rag at each station to clean clubs is a nice touch as well.  Can't chip on putting green, but there is a chipping green and practice trap between the range and first tee (we like such proximity to the tee, especially on crowded courses).

    The club emphasizes fast play.  A loudspeaker calls foursomes to the tees 15 minutes in advance.  Even with play starting on both nines, we finished our round in four hours.  We saw no water fountains on the course; in stifling summer heat that could be an issue.