Owner and general manger Bill Burnette has made another personnel move in his proclaimed objective to “create the new Hyland Golf Club.”

Danny Barrett, a familiar name in Sandhills golf circles, has been named head golf professional and assumed duties two weeks ago, replacing Lew Ferguson.

Ferguson, a fixture in the Sandhills golf scene for the past 30 years, is “seeking other career opportunities.”

“Lew is a very capable PGA professional,” Burnette said, “but he became interested in and applied for another job, and if he’s not going to be here, we encouraged him to seek other opportunities.”

Ferguson, who resumed his career as a PGA professional by replacing Doug Thompson at Hyland Aug. 1, had formerly worked as an assistant to the late Buck Adams at the Country Club of North Carolina and also served for several years as the head professional at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club. Before taking the job at Hyland, he was working in real estate sales.

Thompson is now the general manger and head professional at Southern Pines Golf Club.

“The time was right for me to explore other opportunities,” Ferguson said. “I’m absolutely glad that I took the opportunity to get back into golf, and I wish nothing but the best for Bill, Danny and Hyland Golf Club.”

“Since I’ve owned Hyland, I have had very good personnel,” Burnette said, “but when one is changing the direction of a golf club — while planning for the future — it becomes a constant evolution until all the right people are in the right place.”

In that vein, Burnette has employed three head professionals and three course superintendents over the span of the past several months, and the course has switched from bentgrass greens to Bermuda Champion.

Burnette, who also owns a course in Mocksville, feels he now has the right pieces in place to achieve his goals. “Every department and section of Hyland consists of relatively new and exciting faces, all of whom are exceptionally capable,” he said.

“Danny had been here since last September in a part-time role, and I immediately recognized his work ethic and the pleasant way he treats our customers.

“I’m also pleased that Mark Thompson, an N.C. State agronomy and turfgrass specialist, has joined the staff as a consultant. Mark is so talented that he currently heads up the turfgrass section of the N.C. State Turfgrass Experiment Station in Jackson Springs.

“In addition, we also have a new director of business management and food and beverage department, Briggitte Boles.”

Barrett, who has previously worked at Seven Lakes Country Club, Legacy Golf Links and Woodlake Country Club, has been out of golf for the past eight years and was owner and ­operator of a paint and ­wallpaper business in Aberdeen. He closed the store a few months ago and called Ferguson about a part-time position.

“I had a couple of ­opportunities, but I didn’t want to leave the area,” Barrett said. “I have a ­lifetime membership status with the PGA, which I had never lost. I wanted to get back into the business and Lew offered me a part-time position. I just learned this past Sunday (Jan. 8) that he was leaving. I’ve talked with Lew, and he and I are fine.”

Barrett feels he could be the right piece of the puzzle that Burnette has been trying to complete.

“I’ve been in the golf ­business a long time,” he said, “and it’s second nature to me. I’ve worked at ­everything from cleaning golf carts to managing. I grew up in the golf business. My dad was the caddie ­master at Pinehurst Country Club for 30 years, and that’s where I went after school, working at the driving range or wherever they needed me.

“Bill and I understand each other. I understand what his goals are and what he’s trying to do here. I know a lot of people in golf and I can help market Hyland. The word is getting out that the course is in great shape, and we can be one of the busiest courses in the area.

“My challenge is to get the number of rounds back up and have Hyland meet its potential. I think we can reach 28-30,000 rounds a year here.

“We’ve started a golf ­packaging program that we’re only 18 days into, and already we’re seeing results. We’ve got a whole file here of people that are going to be coming in to play.”

Burnette feels the Tom Jackson-designed Hyland is on the right track to regain its position as one of the most popular public courses in the Sandhills.

“We were up 13 percent over 2010 last year,” he said, “and if we can increase play another 13 percent this year, we’ll be on target.”