Roanoke Country Club was a founding member of the Virginia State Golf Association back in 1904. Today, they’re doing some renovations in the clubhouse and racquet sports facility at the 125-year-old facility. PGA of America General Manager Tim McAfee works closely with members of his Board of Directors to ensure these projects stay on budget and on time with the contractors onsite.
The club also hosts 30 charity events each year that help local organizations raise vital funds that facilitate their mission and goals, while bringing outing revenue into the club. “We work closely with those outings to help them have a successful event and raise money for their cause,” McAfee says. His F&B team will reach out before these events to ensure they’re on the same page as it relates to meals, bar service, beverage cart and on-course amenities. His golf professionals also keep the lines of communication open with outing organizers so they have the correct number of players and their names, proper groupings, prizes and tee gifts from the golf shop, format and scoring process and more. One event even prefers bi-weekly meetings with the RCC team to ensure no surprises on tournament day. “We’re really on the tournament committee to help it all run more smoothly,” McAfee adds. As the former Director of Golf, McAfee understands the importance of communication and collaboration in facility renovations and tournament administration.
McAfee also serves on the Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame board. “We run a scholarship event at Roanoke Country Club that raises funds for local kids and takes a lot of collaboration to pull off successfully,” McAfee explains. “With junior golfers playing with the adults who are contributing to the fundraising efforts, this event ties the juniors to the folks making it happen and is a great connection point between the two parties. We get many of the top junior players in the valley to participate.”
Another charitable event geared towards junior golfers is the Scott Robertson Memorial Tournament, which Roanoke Country Club has hosted since 1984. This event is ranked among the nation’s top junior tournaments every year and includes past winners like PGA Tour members Austin Eckroat, Hunter Mahan, Carl Yuan and Webb Simpson, former Tour player Kevin Na and LPGA Tour members Paula Creamer, Brooke Henderson, Alexa Pano, Nelly Korda and Jessica Korda. In fact, Moriya Jutanugarn broke the tournament record in 2011 with a 64 in the second round.
“Our membership has embraced this tournament for 40 years and we have over 300 volunteers, many of whom are members, including some of the chairpeople overseeing the event,” McAfee boasts. “The tournament director has always been an RCC member, the starters are members and the membership takes great pride in hosting the event.” Tournament participants and their families can’t say enough about the hospitality offered by everyone at Roanoke Country Club. This support and collaboration have proven vital in making the tournament so successful, even four decades later.
In addition, RCC is also located adjacent to the headquarters of First Tee - Roanoke Valley, which has its own range and short course. However, the members at Roanoke Country Club open their big course to these juniors now and again and keep the tradition of doing good for local juniors going strong.
With this year marking its 125th anniversary, RCC will host a celebration on June 28th that will bring a fair-like atmosphere to McAfee’s proud membership. There will be a golf tournament that members will find very interesting - they’ll use old persimmon clubs and classic balls, while those tennis players at the club will enjoy an event played in all-whites with wooden racquets. There will be food, live music, pool events and maybe even a 5K race to mark the special day for every member of the family. Whether it’s the charitable events or an anniversary celebration, these once-a-year or once-in-a-lifetime occasions take much teamwork and planning to pull off.