Transactions, february 28, 2014

     Greg Norman’s flat-lining golf community in Loudoun County, Tennessee has finally found a buyer. An affiliate of The PNL Companies, a Dallas, Texas-based group that invests in troubled real estate, has acquired Tennessee National, a 1,450-acre waterfront spread that opened in 2006. As part of their effort to get the development ball rolling again, the new owners plan to build a long-awaited marina on Watts Bar Lake and unveil some new housing options for the gated community. Tennessee National was initiated by John “Thunder” Thornton, a Chattanooga-based developer, and Medallist Development, a firm created by Norman and Macquarie Bank. The partners put the property up for sale in 2010, shortly after one of their sales pitches -- one that offered a chance to buy lakefront property for “pennies on the dollar!” -- failed to strike a nerve.

     An auctioneer without any golf experience is the new owner of Weatherwax Golf Course, a money-losing municipal venue in Middletown, Ohio. Myron Bowling told the Hamilton Journal-News that he’s “never held a golf club” and doesn’t expect to take up the sport anytime soon. To get the 36-hole, Arthur Hills-designed golf complex back on its financial feet, Bowling said, he and his partners plan to cut costs and invest in improvements that will attract local golfers. No specifics were offered. The city accepted $1.6 million for the 425-acre property. After it deducts the sales commission ($80,000), pays off the debt on the complex’s bonds ($750,000) and its golf carts ($502,644), and springs for some purchaser-requested odds and ends ($30,000), Middletown will pocket $95,000.

     A Hong Kong-based movie producer and soccer addict has made a small splash in Bulgaria’s tiny golf business. Steven Lo, the chairman of BMA Entertainment Holdings, Ltd., has acquired St. Sofia Golf Club, one of the capital city’s (and the nation’s) most prominent golf properties. St. Sofia’s 18-hole course opened in 2004 and was redesigned by Paul McGinley in 2012. Before the Gary Player-designed courses at BlackSeaRama and Thracian Cliffs opened, it was generally regarded as the nation’s top golf property. Lo owns a soccer team in Hong Kong and serves as the vice chairman of the city’s football association, and he has a passion for horse racing. BMA owns a bunch of movie theaters and is involved in a variety of arts- and sports-related activities, among them music production, book publishing, and celebrity management. It appears that the purchase of St. Sofia is Lo’s first move into the golf business, and there’s no reason to believe that it’ll be his last.

     A Chinese investor has purchased Chalet Hills Golf Club, a financially challenged property in Cary, Illinois. In a transaction that closed late last year, Leli Zhou reportedly paid $1.55 million for Chalet Hills, which has been operated by a receiver since 2011. The receiver, operating on behalf of a Chicago-area bank, was hoping to get $2.75 million. Chalet Hills features an 18-hole layout that was designed by Ken Killian, who once called it “the greatest course I have ever designed.” Chris Charnas, the broker who facilitated the transaction, believes that Zhou will employ “a fresh approach to marketing” and “should be able to reinvigorate the asset.” In 2012, the Cary Park District had considering buying the course but passed on the opportunity.

      On the final day of 2013, an Edmonton-based trailer-manufacturing company took possession of its first golf property. Denille Industries, Ltd., which operates as Auburn Rentals, bought Shadow Mountain Golf Course, a distressed facility in Cranbrook, British Columbia. Shadow Mountain features an 18-hole, Wayne Carleton-designed course that opened in 2009. “We have some plans of diversifying into land development,” a company official told the Cranbrook Daily Townsman, “and this golf course was kind of phase one of our future goals and visions of diversification.” Shadow Mountain, which rang up 19,000 rounds in 2012, has been operated by a receiver since January 2013. The sales price hasn’t been announced, but the receiver was asking for $3.75 million.

     Late last year, the village of Homer Glen, Illinois closed on the largest land purchase in its history. The Chicago Tribune reports that the village paid $3.3 million for Woodbine Golf Course, a 106-acre spread that features an 18-hole, Gordon Cunningham-designed layout. The sellers, Jim and Patricia Ludwig, are said to be eagerly looking forward to retirement and, presumably, equally happy to avoid a bankruptcy filing. The course will operate through the 2014 season and then most likely disappear. The village thinks it’ll make an ideal park.

     Canada’s premier golf operator has added to its inventory in Ontario. ClubLink has purchased Hidden Lake Golf Club, a 36-hole facility that occupies roughly 500 acres in Burlington. The Burlington Post describes Hidden Lake as “a strategically located, successful course” and one of the area’s most popular. George Tidd, one of the sellers, credited the facility’s success to “offering the public golfer a great experience at an affordable fee.” ClubLink owns and operates more than three dozen golf properties in Ontario and Quebec and several others in Florida.

     Jacksonville, Florida-based Arendale Holdings has become the sole owner of the Cliffs Communities, a cluster of seven flamed-out, high-end golf communities in the Carolinas. “We believe the Cliffs is poised for a vibrant future for its residents, club members, and employees,” an Arendale spokesperson said in a press release. Operating as Silver Sun Partners LLC, Arendale and its former partners -- the Carlile Group and SunTx Urbana -- freed the Cliffs collection from bankruptcy protection in 2012. Arendale acquired the interests of its partners in late December 2013. Sadly, the press release didn’t address the development prospects for the Cliffs at High Carolina, a community outside Asheville, North Carolina that was supposed to feature Tiger Woods’ first U.S. golf design. High Carolina may not have much of a future, but it sure was fun while it lasted.