Country Clubs' Merger Called Off

Hunting Hills Country Club^

Roanoke Country Club^

The planned merger of Roanoke Country Club and Hunting Hills Country Club in Roanoke has fallen through, according to Nikki Poole, membership chairman at RCC. Hunting Hills' membership chairman Tom van Duursen also confirmed the reconsideration.

Poole says "a number of issues could not be worked out" and the clubs decided to remain independent of each other. The clubs have faced increasing challenges in the difficult economy and felt at the time they announced their planned merger that they could both flourish as a combined unit.

Roanoke Country Club is the oldest club of its type in the region, dating to 1899 and for many years was the prestige club. RCC has 27 holes of golf, in addition to tennis, dining and swimming. Hunting Hills is often considered the most "business friendly" of the region's country clubs. Its golf course dates from 1971. The course was sold to Old Heritage Corp. in 2003 for $1.9 million, according to published reports at the time. HHCC also features tennis, swimming and dining.

The August Hunting Hills newsletter Houndogazette noted, "All this talk about possible merger has made some people nervous and created a bit of a stir." The idea was that members would use both sports facilities with dining at Hunting Hills and banquets at RCC. The clubs hoped to save $750,000 a year, van Duursen said at the time of the proposal.

--DAN SMITH