Cole is the new manager of Creighton Farms, a gated community in Loudoun County that boasts a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course. The recession has hurt sales at Creighton Farms and many other developments, but the course has been heralded in several golf magazines.
Have you shot the course yet?
Oh yeah.
What’s your handicap?
Well, I’m a high handicapper. I work too hard. I’m a 19 handicap.
And how is the course?
The course is absolutely fabulous. It’s a very challenging course. It’s impeccably maintained, well groomed, greatly designed and well deserving of the recognition it has received.
What’s the hardest hole?
That’s pretty subjective. It’ll depend on who you talk to.
What’s yours?
I probably have to say No. 18. It’s a big hole, it’s a dogleg. You get into trouble easily on the right side. There’s big bunkers on the right-hand side.
How did you get into the work?
Our company used to be known as Willowbend Development in the early 1990s. It was in Cape Cod. I joined Willowbend in 1996 as the general manager of the Rio Mar Country Club in Puerto Rico. In 2005, David Southworth, who is one of the principals of Southworth Development, bought Willowbend.
How has the recession hit gated communities?
The real estate market — everybody has been affected. This is such a great project that we still feel very, very bullish on our sales.
What’s your best moment on the course?
That’s a good question. I don’t know if I can really answer that. I haven’t played a tremendous amount yet. I’m still commuting from Massachusetts, so I haven’t had a spectacular day yet. It depends on the time of day. Playing the back nine is terrific late in the day, especially holes 11 or 12 — it’s really bucolic and beautiful back there.
