My wife and I had a blast at the UNC Ophthalmology holiday party held at the Governors Club in…read moreChapel Hill earlier this month. Simply put, it was a great event with excellent and food, drink, and service provided by the club. There was a dance floor and DJ too.
I hadn't heard of the Governors Club until we were invited to this event. I looked up the club online beforehand. The first comparison that came to mind for me is TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Georgia (outside of Atlanta), just because I'm from Atlanta and I'm familiar with TPC Sugarloaf. Both are private, gated, country club communities with lots of big houses and 27 holes of golf. In the case of Governors Club, the course was designed by Jack Nicklaus. I thought it was impressive/interesting, but not too surprising, that Chapel Hill had a private neighborhood like this. It's something you expect to find in bigger metropolitan areas, but Chapel Hill and the Triangle do have affluent populations that can support a neighborhood of this scale.
According to the club's website, this is the only private golf club community in the Triangle that is gated. There are over 900 homes. It's a big site. Doing a quick view of available homes, I saw a 3-bed, 3-bath, 3,600-square-foot home with a list price of $750,000 up to a 4-bed, 6-bath, 8,325-square-foot home with a list price of $2,785,000. Not your typical Triangle home prices.
We visited at night, so I wasn't able to get a good look at the houses and golf course as we made the windy drive to the clubhouse. But from what I was able to see, the Governors Club neighborhood reminded me of what Lee Trevino once said about the Country Club of the South in Johns Creek, Georgia -- words to the effect of, "Every house is a clubhouse." I don't think it was that pronounced here, but the thought did come to mind.
There are other clubs with the name "Governors Club" or similar around the country. For example, in Acworth, Georgia, there's Governors Towne Club. The course there was designed by Wake Forest grad Curtis Strange, but I digress. *This* Governors Club was founded in 1988. Despite its age, the parts of the clubhouse that I saw looked up-to-date and in great condition. It's a sign of a healthy membership and perhaps a thriving club, in my opinion. I've been in my fair share of country club clubhouses over the past three decades. Some clubs have fared better than others since the Great Recession. Governors Club looks good.
I guesstimate the party I attended had roughly 80+ guests. There were two parties going on the Saturday night of our visit, one on the first floor of the clubhouse and ours on the second floor. The room was beautiful, floor to ceiling. Just really nice and elegant - what you'd expect of a top-tier club. There was a bar, dinner buffet, carving station, and a dessert table. As mentioned in the first paragraph of this review, I thought the food, drink, and service was excellent. The buffet had Caesar salad, a variety of pastas (meat, seafood, vegetarian), and enchiladas. The carving station featured beef tenderloin. The desserts were a colorful assortment of mini, finger-food desserts, from small cheesecake bites to cones filled with delectable vanilla and chocolate frosting. I thought the chef(s) and staff did a wonderful job.
The Christmas tree inside the front part of the clubhouse was gorgeous, as was the clubhouse in general. They did a terrific job with the look and decor here. It was classy, modern, and stylish.
I'd love to return and play 18 sometime.