The Crossing is located near Virginia Center Commons in northern Henrico.
The deal is in the bag.
Henrico County’s sale of The Crossings Golf Club to North Carolina-based McConnell Golf has officially closed, according to an announcement Wednesday afternoon.
The purchase price is listed in county records as zero dollars, as Henrico agreed to transfer the 268-acre property to McConnell for a nominal fee in exchange for the company’s promise to pump millions into renovating and reopening the shuttered course while maintaining it as a public, daily-fee club.
McConnell said in the release that it plans to invest $10 million into the property to preserve architect Joe Lee’s original design while also modernizing the facility, with the hope of reopening in fall of 2027.
The Crossings will be the 18th golf course in McConnell’s portfolio and third in Virginia, adding to the Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech in Radford and The Water’s Edge Country Club in Penhook.
“As a Virginia native, I’m excited to continue investing in my home state with The Crossings Golf Club,” McConnell Golf founder and CEO John McConnell said in a prepared statement. “Joe Lee created a wonderful golf course, and we’re looking forward to bringing it back to life while preserving the character that made it special. Golf course architect Kris Spence has a great vision for the property, and I think golfers will enjoy the course as it was always meant to be played.”
McConnell representatives did not respond to a request for additional comment by press time.
The release states that construction is expected to begin later this summer, with irrigation installation as the first step.
McConnell said in the release the new layout will span approximately 7,400 yards from the longest tees. The greens, fairways and rough will feature Bermudagrass.
The new logo for The Crossings. (Courtesy McConnel Golf)
McConnell’s changes at The Crossings also includes the unveiling of new branding, namely a new logo featuring a 1920s-era trolley car, replacing its previous logo of a man on a horse.
The company said the new logo was inspired by the Ashland Trolley Line, which passed a few miles from the course. The logo is also meant to be a tribute to Richmond’s history as “the birthplace of the world’s first successful electric streetcar system in 1888.”
The deal brings to an end Henrico’s short-lived ownership of The Crossings, which opened in the mid-1990s.
The Crossings has changed ownership four times since 2014.
Henrico’s involvement in the course began in late 2023, when it purchased the aging club for $3 million with the hopes of raising money through a public-private partnership to renovate it and make it the new home for the PGA Tour Champions tournament then known as the Dominion Energy Charity Classic.
That plan, however, never came to fruition. The PGA ultimately retired the DECC and instead decided to move its Korn Ferry Tour Championship to the region, to be played in October at the Federal Club in Hanover for at least the next few years.
But Henrico has maintained its desire to see some form of a professional golf tournament brought back to the county, likely to be held at The Crossings.
When the new Korn Ferry tournament was announced last fall, the press conference for the event was led largely by Henrico officials and the Henrico Economic Development Authority invested as part of the lead sponsorship group for the event, despite the fact that Federal Club is located in Hanover County.
Upon first announcing the then-pending sale to McConnell in April, Henrico emphasized the long-term hope that professional golf would eventually be played at the course. In Wednesday’s release, McConnell said that’s still part of the playbook.
“Working with the Henrico Sports & Entertainment and Economic Development Authorities, McConnell Golf also shares a long-term vision of positioning The Crossings to host professional tour events and amateur tournaments, including collegiate and high school events,” the company said.
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