North Carolina's COVID Country Club Bailout
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According to records on pandemicoversight.gov, the North Carolina Governor's Office allocated hundreds of thousands of dollars in Coronavirus Relief Funds to some of NC's wealthiest, most exclusive country clubs.
The Coronavirus Relief Fund is a $150 billion state and local government bailout fund created by the CARES Act. States were given authority to allocate it as they saw fit, with extremely loose guidance from the Treasury Department.
North Carolina received over $4 billion from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, with $480 million going straight to counties with populations over 500,000 and $150 million set aside by the general assembly for distrubution to other counties.
The remaining $3.5 billion of the fund seems to be allocated by NC Pandemic Recovery Office, established by Governor Roy Cooper.
Governor Cooper's office did not resond to requests for comments on who was involved in the allocations of CRF funds to country clubs.
Carolina Country Club (Raleigh) - $250,000
Initiation fee: $70,000
Dues: $9000/yr
Waitlist: 7-9 years
Rolling Hills Country Club (Monroe) - $250,000
Initiation fee: $5,000
Dues: $5,500/yr
Old Chatham Golf Club (Durham) - $250,000
Initiation Fee: Undisclosed
Dues: Undisclosed
Hope Valley Country Club (Durham) - $250,000
Preferred country club of Durham old money.
Initiation fee: Undisclosed
Dues: Undisclosed
New Bern Golf and Country Club (New Bern) - $250,000
Initiation fee: $4,000
Dues: $4,000/yr
Mimosa Hills Golf Club (Morganton) - $169,778
Inititation Fee: Undisclosed
Dues: Undisclosed
Country Club of Landfall (Wilmington) - $121,000
Initiation fee: Undisclosed, $42,000 in 2012
Dues: Undisclosed
Myers Park Country Club (Charlotte) - $92,825
$95,000 initiation fee, $12,000/year dues, 2+ year waiting list
Recently sued by one of its members, a former US Ambassador to Bill Clinton, over a $27 million renovation plan that only expanded the men-only facilities.
Highland Country Club (Fayetteville) - $88,847
Initiation Fee: Undisclosed
Dues: Undisclosed
Country Club of Salisbury (Salisbury) - $79,820
Initation fee: Undisclosed
Dues: Undisclosed
Alamance Country Club (Burlington) - $66,079
Initation fee: Undisclosed
Dues: Undisclosed
High Point Country Club (High Point) - $52,665
Initation fee: $6,000
Dues: $5,000