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Roger C. Watson - Managing Partner
The man who beat the famed Sam Snead to win a national championship could probably have beaten him—and others-- in a corporate board room, too.
It has been 36 years since young Roger Watson, the head golf professional at MacGregor Downs Country Club in Raleigh, beat Snead on the first hole of a playoff to win the national PGA Club Championship at Pinehurst No. 2. The victory was a major upset, pitting a relative unknown club pro against one of the game’s most famous players.
Watson went on to defend his title the next year and embark on a playing career that saw him play in the US Open and the PGA championship tournaments, win the Carolinas PGA Section title along with Player of the Year honors, and a host of other events.
As good as he was as a teacher and player, Watson was an instant success in the business side of golf, using his vast knowledge and talent to perfection. An astute and innovative businessman, he formed a number of partnerships that built, owned or leased a number of courses. Later his management skills led to an effective association with clubs—public, private and semi-private—handling all phases of club operations.
Several of the company’s unique programs have resulted in tremendous cost-savings for clubs that were fighting hard to stay alive in a wayward economy. The High Point Country Club, for example, recently saw a new membership program result in an increase of more than 120 members in less than six months. Wildwood Green’s membership has grown by 250 members during an 18-month period.
After graduating from High Point College in 1966, where he earned NAIA All-American honors as the school’s top player, Watson ventured out into professional golf.
His first job was a two-year stint as an assistant golf professional under Buck Adams at the Country Club of North Carolina. Later he became Head Professional at Sapona CC in Lexington, NC, for two years before taking over at MacGregor Downs, where he served for 12 years.
It was at MacGregor Downs that Watson began to think of a career off the golf course. In addition to serving as the golf pro, he was asked to be president of the club’s real estate division. The lessons he learned from selling proved invaluable, and in 1982 he formed his first partnership—the Eaglemere Group—and built Lochmere Golf Club in Cary and Wildwood Green in Raleigh.
A year later he formed Watson Golf Services to manage courses with Lochmere as his first client.
In 1984 he joined forces with Cliff Benson Jr. of Raleigh and bought both Wildwood and Lochmere from Eaglemere. Later he built and managed North Shore in Topsail Beach, NC.
Professional Golf Design came along in 1986, and the company designed and ran the Nags Head Golf Links on the Outer Banks.
The Carolinas Golf Group was born in 1988 with Watson and Stuart Frantz as the original partners. Later they invited Raleigh businessman Richard Urquhart and popular club professional Buck Adams to join them.
The group’s first project was Devil’s Ridge in Holly Springs, followed by The Neuse Golf Club in Clayton, Oak Valley in Advance, the Currituck Club in Corolla and the Kiskiack Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va.
In 1998, the company was purchased for $60 million by Cobblestone Golf.
Watson gave second life to the Carolinas Golf Group in 2000 when he revived the name and concentrated mostly on providing a full-service club management. In the decade of the 21 st century the firm has run more than a dozen courses; built the Traditions of Braselton in Jefferson, Ga.; oversaw construction of the Old Chatham Club near Chapel Hill, the Golf Club at Sanctuary Cove near St. Simons Island, Ga., the Golf Club at Chapel Ridge in Pittsboro, the North River Club in Beaufort, NC, the Bridges Club in Gunter, Texas.
The company also sold four courses for Bluegreen Golf.
Watson and his associates scored a coup in 2007 when they signed a contract to build and manage the Lonnie Poole Golf Course at N. C. State University on the school’s Centennial Campus, an Arnold Palmer design.
The course has opened to rave reviews and has become the centerpiece of a unique $16 million golf complex.
In addition to Lonnie Poole, the company also manages the High Point CC, Wildwood Green, North River, the Bridges at Preston Crossing, and the Club at Sanctuary Cove.
“It has been an enjoyable run,” Watson, 70, exclaimed, “and I have enjoyed every minute of my many associations with such a wide assortment of courses.”
A High Point native, Watson was considered one of the state’s best players for more than a decade. He won the North Carolina Open in 1969 and was twice named the Carolinas PGA Section’s Player of the Year.
He has been elected to three Halls of Fames, including the Carolinas Golf, North Carolina Sports, and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
Watson doesn’t have much time for playing golf anymore but manages a couple of rounds a month, scoring in the mid to high seventies. His leisure activities now include reading and coin collecting.
He is married to the former Sandy Morris of High Point, and the couple has two children, son Chip and daughter Molly Maack, and four grandchildren.
It has been 36 years since young Roger Watson, the head golf professional at MacGregor Downs Country Club in Raleigh, beat Snead on the first hole of a playoff to win the national PGA Club Championship at Pinehurst No. 2. The victory was a major upset, pitting a relative unknown club pro against one of the game’s most famous players.
Watson went on to defend his title the next year and embark on a playing career that saw him play in the US Open and the PGA championship tournaments, win the Carolinas PGA Section title along with Player of the Year honors, and a host of other events.
As good as he was as a teacher and player, Watson was an instant success in the business side of golf, using his vast knowledge and talent to perfection. An astute and innovative businessman, he formed a number of partnerships that built, owned or leased a number of courses. Later his management skills led to an effective association with clubs—public, private and semi-private—handling all phases of club operations.
Several of the company’s unique programs have resulted in tremendous cost-savings for clubs that were fighting hard to stay alive in a wayward economy. The High Point Country Club, for example, recently saw a new membership program result in an increase of more than 120 members in less than six months. Wildwood Green’s membership has grown by 250 members during an 18-month period.
After graduating from High Point College in 1966, where he earned NAIA All-American honors as the school’s top player, Watson ventured out into professional golf.
His first job was a two-year stint as an assistant golf professional under Buck Adams at the Country Club of North Carolina. Later he became Head Professional at Sapona CC in Lexington, NC, for two years before taking over at MacGregor Downs, where he served for 12 years.
It was at MacGregor Downs that Watson began to think of a career off the golf course. In addition to serving as the golf pro, he was asked to be president of the club’s real estate division. The lessons he learned from selling proved invaluable, and in 1982 he formed his first partnership—the Eaglemere Group—and built Lochmere Golf Club in Cary and Wildwood Green in Raleigh.
A year later he formed Watson Golf Services to manage courses with Lochmere as his first client.
In 1984 he joined forces with Cliff Benson Jr. of Raleigh and bought both Wildwood and Lochmere from Eaglemere. Later he built and managed North Shore in Topsail Beach, NC.
Professional Golf Design came along in 1986, and the company designed and ran the Nags Head Golf Links on the Outer Banks.
The Carolinas Golf Group was born in 1988 with Watson and Stuart Frantz as the original partners. Later they invited Raleigh businessman Richard Urquhart and popular club professional Buck Adams to join them.
The group’s first project was Devil’s Ridge in Holly Springs, followed by The Neuse Golf Club in Clayton, Oak Valley in Advance, the Currituck Club in Corolla and the Kiskiack Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va.
In 1998, the company was purchased for $60 million by Cobblestone Golf.
Watson gave second life to the Carolinas Golf Group in 2000 when he revived the name and concentrated mostly on providing a full-service club management. In the decade of the 21 st century the firm has run more than a dozen courses; built the Traditions of Braselton in Jefferson, Ga.; oversaw construction of the Old Chatham Club near Chapel Hill, the Golf Club at Sanctuary Cove near St. Simons Island, Ga., the Golf Club at Chapel Ridge in Pittsboro, the North River Club in Beaufort, NC, the Bridges Club in Gunter, Texas.
The company also sold four courses for Bluegreen Golf.
Watson and his associates scored a coup in 2007 when they signed a contract to build and manage the Lonnie Poole Golf Course at N. C. State University on the school’s Centennial Campus, an Arnold Palmer design.
The course has opened to rave reviews and has become the centerpiece of a unique $16 million golf complex.
In addition to Lonnie Poole, the company also manages the High Point CC, Wildwood Green, North River, the Bridges at Preston Crossing, and the Club at Sanctuary Cove.
“It has been an enjoyable run,” Watson, 70, exclaimed, “and I have enjoyed every minute of my many associations with such a wide assortment of courses.”
A High Point native, Watson was considered one of the state’s best players for more than a decade. He won the North Carolina Open in 1969 and was twice named the Carolinas PGA Section’s Player of the Year.
He has been elected to three Halls of Fames, including the Carolinas Golf, North Carolina Sports, and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
Watson doesn’t have much time for playing golf anymore but manages a couple of rounds a month, scoring in the mid to high seventies. His leisure activities now include reading and coin collecting.
He is married to the former Sandy Morris of High Point, and the couple has two children, son Chip and daughter Molly Maack, and four grandchildren.
