Chip Weisgerber, head golf professional

Chip Weisgerber, the head golf professional at the new Quail Creek, deals with most of the same operational duties that other pros deal with, but he also teaches the business to PGM students like Smither.

"Teaching the students has been my favorite part so far" says Weisgerber, a Wilmington, Del., native who graduated from Coastal in 1997. "It's been even better than I expected. The students all come to work looking to learn, looking to improve and become golf professionals."

Weisgerber's career in the golf business began in 1999 at Sandhills Links, the group that operates The Witch, The Wizard and Man O' War courses. From there he went to Wachesaw Plantation, where he was the head professional for three years prior to his arrival at Quail Creek.

"At Wachesaw the average age was around 72," he says, only half-jokingly. "So it's the opposite end of the spectrum here."

Chuck Johns, a 2004 graduate of the PGM program at Coastal, is Weisgerber's assistant pro. Johns was previously an assistant at Pine Lakes International Country Club, Myrtle Beach's oldest golf course. While enrolled in the PGM program, Johns held internships at the Country Club of Virginia in Richmond; Sewickley Heights Golf Club in Sewickley, Pa.; Roaring Fork Club in Basalt, Colo.; and Olde Stonewall Golf Club in Ellwood, Pa.

Joe Carter's role in the acquisition has been what some might liken to a nucleus. A partner with Keystone Realty in Myrtle Beach and a Coastal trustee, Carter was in a fortunate position to recognize the various needs of the principal players in the transaction early on. Aware of Coastal's desire to attain Quail Creek for its PGM program, he put the university in touch with the course's owners, The Classic Group, who had recently listed the property for sale. Ed Jerdon and Rowland Thomas, the managing partners of The Classic Group, were very sympathetic to the idea of Coastal controlling the property.

It was Carter's theory that the property, which was zoned for residential use, could be purchased by a third party willing to place it under a conservation easement and lease it to the university.

Enter Mark Nesselroad of Glenmark Holding LLC, a development and realty firm based in Morgantown, W.Va. Glenmark has a long record of forming innovative business/community partnerships, including some that benefit West Virginia University (also located in Morgantown).

"Mr. Nesselroad likes difficult deals and he was intrigued by the idea," said Carter. After lengthy negotiations, Glenmark purchased the property and subsequently offered Coastal a five-year lease.

"The attraction was the opportunity to do something that would be good for the community as well as for the university and also good for our company," said Nesselroad.

"It's not often that you get to do something that is so beneficial to the community and to the University," said Carter. "We had the right people at the right time and that only comes along every once in a while."

Coastal Carolina University President Ronald Ingle believes that the acquisition is not only a necessary addition to the PGM program but an asset to the campus community as a whole.

"It's a great recreational facility for our entire campus community and the Quail Creek community," said Ingle. "There are advantages across all sorts of lines." Ingle says that students of the sciences, at Coastal and HGTC, will use the course as a laboratory, and physical education classes will use the course as a classroom.

HGTC President Neyle Wilson with CCU President Ronald Ingle at the press conference announcing the agreement.

HGTC President Neyle Wilson is also pleased with what has been accomplished so far. "It's an excellent asset to our academic programs," said Wilson. "Our faculty has done a good job of blending in the normal operations of a golf course and the associated business function of a golf course."

George McCauley, chair of HGTC's Golf Course Management Department, says the project will have a positive impact on the college's soil, irrigation technology, horticulture technology and turf equipment technician programs, and he sees the course as a potential classroom for HGTC's engineering technology program.

McCauley is also excited about the relationship that will be built between CCU and HGTC students. "Our students will learn more about golf operations and what the pro does in the pro shop," he said. "And students in the PGM program learn more about the maintenance of the golf course and what the superintendent does. We think that will allow for a better working relationship between the superintendent and the pros when they complete our programs."

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