The foursome on the 14th hole at Willow Oaks Country Club wasn’t talking about their putts. They were talking about the Shockoe Bottom development that’s been stalled for two years, the rising cost of tenant improvements in Scott’s Addition, and whether the new convention hotel will actually break ground before 2027.
This is the real purpose of Richmond’s charity golf tournaments: not the game, but the conversations that happen between shots. The 6th annual BizSense Golf Tournament, held last week under cloudless April skies, drew several dozen teams from the region’s commercial real estate firms, banks, law practices, and development companies — the overlapping circles of people who shape what gets built in this city and who gets to profit from it.
Willow Oaks, the private club off Cary Street Road in Henrico that has hosted U.S. Open qualifiers and generations of Richmond’s business establishment, provided the backdrop. Membership at the 67-year-old club isn’t publicly disclosed, but industry estimates put initiation fees in the five figures and monthly dues that would cover rent for a one-bedroom in Church Hill.
The tournament benefits local journalism, which makes it somewhat unusual among the region’s corporate golf circuit. Most charity tournaments in Richmond funnel proceeds toward hospitals, universities, or social services — causes that come with naming rights and institutional goodwill. Supporting local business coverage is a narrower play, though arguably one with direct returns for the participants.
Winning teams took home the usual trophies and bragging rights. But the real currency exchanged at events like these is harder to quantify: the handshake that leads to a joint venture, the tip about a property coming to market, the relationship that smooths a zoning variance through the county.
Richmond’s business community operates through these semi-private gatherings — the golf tournaments, the board retreats, the charity galas at The Jefferson. The deals themselves happen in conference rooms and over email, but the trust gets built on fairways and at open bars.
For those outside these networks — minority contractors still fighting for a fair share of city contracts, first-generation entrepreneurs without country club memberships, neighborhoods waiting for promised investments — the exclusivity of these spaces matters. The people deciding Richmond’s economic future are often deciding it among themselves, in settings most residents will never enter.
The weather, by all accounts, was perfect. The competition was spirited. And somewhere between the front nine and the back, someone probably shook hands on something that will change a Richmond block or two.
- The 6th annual BizSense Golf Tournament was held at Willow Oaks Country Club in Henrico
- The tournament draws participants from Richmond’s commercial real estate, banking, and development sectors
- Willow Oaks Country Club has hosted U.S. Open qualifiers and has initiation fees estimated in the five figures