A municipal Triad golf course known for its affordability may soon be sold to an experienced group of golf business professionals who will keep the course open to the public.
The town of Troy will hold a public meeting on February 2 to receive comment on the proposed sale of Denson’s Creek Golf Course (pictured above) to a private ownership group that would agree to continue to operate the property as a golf course with a restaurant.
Though not written in the public notice, Troy town clerk Amy Vuncannon confirmed that the proposed ownership group includes Art Colasanti, a veteran PGA pro who has operated the course through a lease since 2024. The clubhouse restaurant, Sweet Tea Grille, would remain leased to a separate company.
Other members of the proposed ownership group are Chris Humble and Chris Cissel, PGA professionals who were district sales managers for Yamaha Golf Car in North Carolina. Humble and Cissel left Yamaha in September to form TYCE Golf and join Colasanti in the bid for Densons Creek ownership.
Humble, a former assistant pro at Greensboro Country Club, has known Colasanti, who bought Whispering Woods Golf Club in Whispering Pines in 2020, for many years. Colasanti worked 32 years for ClubCorp., including a stint when the company owned Pinehurst Resort, and later served as director of golf at Rumbling Bald Resort on Lake Lure for more than six years.
Since Colasanti leased Densons Creek, the course has increased annual play to about 15,000 rounds, almost double the pre-lease numbers, according to Humble.
“It has a lot of potential,” Humble said of Densons Creek. “I think this golf course is a hidden gem.”
Opened in 1952 as Montgomery Country Club, the property was renamed under town ownership in 2009. Stretching to 6,550 yards, the par-72 course plays to a 71.7 rating and 124 slope with undulating terrain and bent grass greens. Phil McCriston designed the course.
A check of the Densons Creek online tee sheet shows current weekday times priced at $25 in the morning and $20 in the afternoon. Humble said prices don’t eclipse $35 on weekdays or $70 during the peak season.
He said keeping the course in good condition and making golf more affordable are important goals of the prospective ownership group.
Cissel added that the new ownership group would phase in improvements throughout the course.
“We want to keep hospitality at a high level, keep the good vibe in here,” Humble said. “We want to keep golf affordable. People love that. We want to convince people who might have gotten out of game, to get back in it.”
Though Densons Creek sits in a low-population area hit hard by a declining textile industry in recent decades, Humble said the quality of the course and the low rates have attracted play from as far away as Greensboro, Charlotte, Raleigh, Pinehurst and Wilmington.
Earlier this week, TriadGolf.com reported that another Montgomery County golf course, Tillery Tradition Country Club near Mt. Gilead, became private after 25 years accepting outside play.
The private Old North State Club layout is the only other golf course in Montgomery.
