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| 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, and both hotel facilities will soon undergo significant renovations and up-fittings. Marine & Lawn is a collection of hotels and resorts set along some of the world’s most coveted golf courses. Four are 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 Portrush Adelphi. This will be Marine & Lawn’s first hotel venture in the United States, although its parent company, AJ Capital Partners, has extensive presence in the hotel industry through its collection of Graduate Hotels in college towns across America. “This is an exciting initiative for our resorts,” says Kelly Miller, President and CEO of the company that owns the resorts and their 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 & Beverage operations, and Marine & Lawn is the ideal partner for us.” “This is a very exciting chapter for us,” says 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 both conceived in the Roaring Twenties and were products of a healthy appetite for golf in Sandhills and the four courses at Pinehurst Country Club, four miles to the west. 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 ever since. The Bells took on partners in 1994 to purchase Mid Pines. Today the enterprise is owned and operated by the Miller, McGowan and Tharani families, who will retain total 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 potential new venture.
“What’s exciting to me is Marine & Lawn specialize in restoring old properties,” Miller says. “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 is a division of AJ Capital, which 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 assets 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 Phillip Allen, President of Marine & Lawn Hotels & Resorts. “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 contains 68 rooms, two food & beverage outlets, an outdoor pool, tennis courts and fitness center. Mid Pines Inn features 63 rooms, three food & 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,” says 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 first-class 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 and just two miles away 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 and launching what would become arguably the most important golf design career of the first half of the 20th century. Ross designed nearly 400 courses nationwide. “We love the state of North Carolina and the Sandhills,” says 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,” adds Miller. “This step shows our commitment.” For
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