Transactions, october 25, 2013

     An investment group led by a pair of corporate Colorado’s female VIPs has purchased Garden of the Gods Club, one of the elite golf properties in Colorado Springs. Brenda Smith and Judy Mackey -- the former is an accountant, the latter a health-care professional -- reportedly paid $10.3 million for Garden of the Gods, which competes for members primarily with the Broadmoor, a Western icon. The seller, an LLC led by Sunrise Company, was hoping to get $14 million for the property, which was unfortunately showing too much age. The new owners have hired Gemstone Hotels & Resorts to manage the club and restore its membership, which peaked at roughly 3,300 in 2000 but has fallen to 1,500. As part of that effort, $6 million will be spent on a new wellness center and improvements to the club’s facilities, including the golf complex. “We really want to elevate the member experience,” Smith told the Colorado Springs Gazette. Garden of the Gods features a 27-hole golf complex, a lodge with 66 guest rooms, a recreation center, and a 21,000-square-foot golf clubhouse. J. Press Maxwell designed the club’s original 18, which opened in 1961.

     Bob Parsons has a flair for promotion and is willing to air borderline offensive Super Bowl ads, but can he revive a struggling golf club? We’ll soon find out, because the founder of GoDaddy, the website hosting company, has purchased a club he belongs to, Golf Club Scottsdale in suburban Phoenix, Arizona. Parsons has given the 10-year-old property a new name, Scottsdale National Golf Club, but he hasn’t yet announced how he’ll meet his major challenge, which will be to sign roughly 200 new members. Discounting, one of his pet strategies, may no longer be an option, as the club has already slashed its initiation fee from $110,000 to $25,000, and ancillary development on the 292-acre property might ruin the vibe. But Scottsdale National’s existing members need not fret. The club still has a highly regarded golf course that was co-designed by Jay Morrish and Dick Bailey, and it now also has the force of Parsons’ personality, not to mention his $1.9 billion fortune.

     World Capital Market, Inc., an entity led by Xu Ming, has acquired its second golf property in California. In August, the merchant banking firm reportedly paid $6.5 million for Golf Club at Glen Ivy in Corona. A month later, it bought Links at Summerly, an 18-hole, Cal Olson-designed track in Lake Elsinore. The latter is part of a 1,481-acre community that’s being developed by McMillin Companies, the seller. WCM says that it has a presence in Beijing, Shanghai, and four U.S. cities, Los Angeles among them. Xu (everyone calls him “Phil,” apparently) describes himself as “a serial successful technology entrepreneur,” a philanthropist, and an ordained minister with 30,000 followers.

     Golden Horse Holdings, the Hong Kong-based entity that owns Dragon Lake Golf Club in Guangzhou, China, is closing in on its second golf property in Queensland, Australia. Golden Horse has agreed to buy the available equity memberships in Links Hope Island, a purchase that will effectively give it control of the 20-year-old club. Links Hope Island, the centerpiece of the Gold Coast’s Hope Island Resort, features an 18-hole course that was co-designed by Peter Thomson and Michael Wolveridge. Golden Horse has also agreed to buy some property at the resort on which it plans to build 29 houses and a 400-room hotel. In August, Golden Horse agreed to buy Noosa Springs Golf & Spa Resort, which features an 18-hole golf course designed by Graham Papworth. The Gold Coast Bulletin reports that the $15 million Noosa Springs transaction hasn’t yet closed.

     The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community has acquired a 250-acre parcel it’s sought since 1873, and the site comes with a bonus: Similk Beach Golf Course. For the tribe, the transaction is truly historic. The property, in Anacortes, Washington, was removed from its reservation via an executive order signed by President Ulysses S. Grant. Since the early 20th century, the land has been owned by the Morgan-Turner family. “I get choked up just thinking about how many generations of Swinomish people have waited for this day,” said Tribal Chairman Brian Cladoosby. The Skagit Valley Herald reports that tribe intends to continue operating the course, which opened in 1945.

     A group of 44 investors in Foley, Alabama have acquired one of Textron Financial Corporation’s unwanted assets. Changing hands is GlenLakes Golf Club, a property that Textron claimed in 2008, when it assumed control of 14 golf properties owned by LinksCorp Holdings. The club, which opened in the mid 1980s, features an 18-hole course that was co-designed by Bruce Devlin and Robert Von Hagge as well as a nine-hole course. It reportedly has 160 members, and its 27-hole golf complex sees 35,000 rounds a year. The new owners plan to spiff up the clubhouse and, according to the Foley Onlooker, “improve the look” of the golf course. “We want to take it back to the presentable condition that it was,” the club’s new president said. The selling price hasn’t been disclosed, but Textron was asking for $2.3 million.

     The city of Fosston, Minnesota has purchased a 180-acre parcel that includes a nine-hole golf course. For the time being, Fosston Golf Club will remain open, operated by a recently created association of golfers from the area. If the 50-year-old course becomes a financial drain, however, it appears that the city won’t hesitate to close it. “We all believe that it’s important to have a golf course as an amenity for our residents,” Mayor Jim Offerdahl told the Grand Forks Herald. “But if it doesn’t operate successfully, the land is valuable for other development.” The city paid $350,000 for the property. The seller was Greg Mireault, a PGA pro who also owns a local furniture store.

     The Virginia State Golf Association Foundation has sold its 27-hole golf complex in Midlothian to a group that believes it’s an ideal place not just for golf but for things like cooking classes, wine tastings, and music camps. Pros, Inc., a Richmond-based sports marketing firm, views Independence Golf Club as “an event venue” whose golf and non-golf assets can be “monetized.” Those assets include Tom Fazio-designed 18-hole and nine-hole par-3 tracks, an auditorium, three dormitories, and two cottages. The new owners aim to add a golf academy and to sell what the Richmond Times Dispatch calls “truncated,” low-cost rounds on the golf courses. “It’s time to find ways to make the sport more inviting,” said Giff Breed, the president of Pros, Inc. A spokesman for the foundation said that it believes the new owners’ plans are “fantastic.”