Two Southern Pine, NC, hotel properties, with a combined two centuries of serving the region’s golf community, have entered into a joint venture with Marine & Lawn, a collection of hotels and resorts set in Scotland and Ireland.
Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club, which opened in 1921, and Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club, which followed in 1928, are joining forces with Marine & Lawn Hotels & Resorts. Both hotel properties will undergo extensive renovations.
Marine & Lawn owns four properties in Scotland: Rusacks at St Andrews, Marine North Berwick, Marine Troon, and Dornoch Station. Two are in Northern Ireland—the Slieve Donard near Royal County Down and the Adelphi in Portrush.
The deal marks Marine & Lawn’s first hotel venture in the U.S., although its parent company, AJ Capital Partners, has a strong presence in the hotel industry through its collection of Graduate Hotels in U.S. college towns.
“This is an exciting initiative for our resorts,” said Kelly Miller, president and CEO of the company that owns the resorts and its two Donald Ross-designed golf courses, as well as Southern Pines Golf Club. “We’ve needed for some time to upgrade our lodging facilities as well as our food and beverage operations, and Marine & Lawn is the ideal partner for us.”
“This is a very exciting chapter for us,“ said Haresh Tharani, who has been partners with the Bell family in the ownership of Mid Pines since December 2017. “We intend to elevate the guest experience while preserving the rich history and traditions of Mid Pines and Pine Needles. We believe this is in the best interest of our membership and guests as well as our outstanding staff.”
Mid Pines and Pine Needles, were founded in the 1920s, when golf surged in popularity, becoming a mainstream sport and solidifying its place in U.S. culture. Mid Pines opened as a hotel and golf course, and Pine Needles was the anchor to a resort and residential community.
Warren Bell and his wife, Peggy Kirk Bell, a charter member of the LPGA Tour, began operating Pine Needles in 1953, bought it in 1959, and it has remained in the family since. The Bells took on partners in 1994 to purchase Mid Pines. Today, the company is owned and operated by the Miller, McGowan and Tharani families, who will retain full ownership of the golf courses.
Miller said the family has had numerous conversations with potential partners and hotel owners and operators over many years and had three criteria for a possible new venture.
“One, make sure that we respect and honor what Mr. and Mrs. Bell started here in 1953 and continue the history and tradition of the properties,“ Miller said. Two, we wanted to reposition these resorts for the next 100 years. We think we’ve done a pretty good job with the golf courses and bringing them up to much higher standards. Now, it’s time to do that on the hospitality side. And three, we wanted to keep the families involved. Both Mid Pines and Pine Needles have been strong family operations for many decades, and we want the younger generation to have an opportunity to stay involved if they’d like.”
Among the early priorities for the new venture is Marine & Lawn’s reconstruction of the Mid Pines Inn, designed by architect Aymar Embury, II. During the renovation, which is scheduled to begin late this Fall, the facility will be closed for six to eight months.
“What’s exciting to me is Marine & Lawn specializes in restoring old properties,“ Miller said. “They know how to refurbish a hundred-year-old hotel. In talking with various potential partners over the last 10 years, almost all of them said, ‘We’re going to tear it down and build it back up, and you’ll never know.‘ That hotel was not going to be torn down on our family’s watch. They have the experience to do the job right. They have the vision and operational experience. And, most importantly, they have enhanced the culture at every one of their properties while maintaining the heritage of each one.”
Marine & Lawn, a division of AJ Capital, was founded in 2008 by Ben Weprin and manages over $5.4 billion in real estate investments in markets throughout the U.S. and U.K.
The “AJ” stands for “Adventurous Journeys” and was launched as a vertically integrated platform that repositions real estate assets to build timeless, scalable businesses and brand platforms across hospitality, mixed-use, and residential sectors. The firm started in Chicago, restoring holdings in the city and launching Graduate Hotels.
Marine & Lawn Hotels & Resorts was born from the realization that the golf experience at these iconic courses ended there—local hotels didn’t match the magic of the game. After several golf trips across the U.K., the idea took shape: acquire and restore historic hotels near legendary courses, creating immersive stays that honor the sport’s rich heritage.
“From the beginning, our vision for Marine & Lawn was to one day bring the brand to the U.S.,“ said company President Phillip Allen. “What started with Rusacks St Andrews has grown to six iconic properties across Scotland and Northern Ireland, each selected for its deep connection to the game of golf and sense of place. For us, it’s always been about preserving the heart and soul of golf through thoughtful hospitality. We couldn’t be more excited to now bring that ethos stateside—and we couldn’t imagine a more fitting destination, or better partners, to do it with.”
Pine Needles Lodge offers 68 rooms, two food and beverage outlets, an outdoor pool, tennis courts, and fitness center. Mid Pines Inn features 63 rooms, three food and beverage outlets and tennis courts.
“The business plan contemplates renovating and repositioning the hospitality business into one of the most coveted golf resorts in the U.S. by bringing a first-class hospitality experience to the resort and restoring it to its proper place among the finest golf destinations in the country, such as Bandon Dunes, Pebble Beach and Pinehurst,“ said a Marine & Lawn overview of the investment.
Once completely renovated, the hotels will feature new guest rooms in line with Marine & Lawn standards, renovated F&B outlets, a reimagined Knollwood Hall, which will become a wedding and events venue and a new swimming pool at Mid Pines.
The lodging facilities sit alongside two of the Sandhills’ most esteemed golf courses two miles from another Ross throwback course in Southern Pines Golf Club.
Pine Needles has been the venue for four U.S. Women’s Opens, and guests at both properties have access to the three courses designed by Ross, who came to Pinehurst in 1900 and began serving as the golf professional at Pinehurst. In his lifetime, Ross designed nearly 400 courses nationwide.
“We love the state of North Carolina and the Sandhills,“ said Tharani, “and we believe very strongly in the area. This is a way to enhance our portfolio while at the same time looking at other opportunities to bolster our presence in the golf capital of the United States.“
“We’re very bullish on the Sandhills,“ added Miller. “This step shows our commitment.”
Image courtesy Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club, Southern Pines
