Transactions, october 31, 2014

     Brattleboro, Vermont. John Judge, who’s had what he calls “a life-long ambition to own a golf course,” has purchased Brattleboro Country Club. The club, which this year celebrated its 100th anniversary, features an 18-hole course, with eight holes designed by Wayne Stiles. It was a forced sale, as the club’s financial condition “has been deteriorating for years,” according to the Brattleboro Reformer. “It was time to foreclose or find a buyer,” one of the club’s former presidents said. Judge, a club member, didn’t reveal the purchase price.

     Prescott, Arizona. Two years after filing for Chapter 11 and closing, Hassayampa Golf Club has once again been given a new lease on life. The club, which features a Tom Weiskopf-designed course, has been acquired by Capital Canyon Club LLC, an entity that’s said to be composed of former club members and residents of Hassayampa’s accompanying community. “You can count on us to bring to you the highest quality golf club you deserve,” the new owners wrote in a letter intended to lure prospective members. Hassayampa was founded in 1919 and closed for the first time in 1969. It was dead for 30 years before Desert Troon brought it back to life. The new owners aim to reopen the track next year.

     Pukalani (Maui), Hawaii. A Japanese investor has reportedly paid $4.25 million for Pukalani Country Club. The club, which opened in 1980, features an 18-hole golf course that was designed by Bob Baldock. The seller, an affiliate of Kobayashi Group, declined to identify the purchaser but told Pacific Business News that it’s “a Japanese person that has been coming to Hawaii and Maui for many years.” Kobayashi’s subsidiary continues to own developable property adjacent to the course.

     Granville, Ohio. After passing on an opportunity to buy Granville Golf Course, Denison University has accepted the property as a gift. The course, which opened in 1924, was designed by Donald Ross, and it serves as the home of the university’s men’s and women’s golf teams. The Columbus Dispatch reports that the property “had faced an uncertain future as revenue declined and its owners aged.” The youngest shareholder, according to the newspaper, “was pushing 80.”

     Alachua, Florida. A Tennessee-based group has agreed to buy and reopen the defunct Turkey Creek Golf & Country Club. The club, in suburban Gainesville, opened in the late 1970s and became a victim of the Great Recession in 2011. It features an 18-hole, Ward Northrup-designed golf course. The Gainesville Sun reports that the prospective owners, operating as GSP Business Alliance, specialize in “revitalizing golf clubs that are dead or dying.” Wallace Cain, Turkey Creek’s current owner, told the newspaper that he put the property on the market “a long time before we closed it.”

     Homer, Georgia. Last summer, a pair of would-be residential developers agreed to buy the only country club in Banks County. Vowing to be “in it for the long haul,” Jim Pritchard and Tony Adams paid an undisclosed price for Scales Country Club, which features an 18-hole, Mark McCumber-designed golf course. “We are very excited about keeping the golf course going and developing a first-class community for the Banks County area,” Pritchard told Banks News Today. The club opened in 1998, as Hammer’s Glen Golf & Country Club. At one time, its golf course was ranked among the 25 toughest in the state.

     Reno, Nevada. The imperiled ArrowCreek Country Club has been rescued by roughly 30 members of its accompanying community. The club, which was forced to declare for bankruptcy protection in early 2014, is now owned by a group that hopes to flip the property to the community’s home owners’ association. “There’s been a negative cloud over ArrowCreek for almost eight years,” the group’s chairman told the Reno Gazette-Journal, “and we feel that that cloud is being lifted.” Arrowhead features a pair of 18-hole courses, one designed by Arnold Palmer and one co-designed by Fuzzy Zoeller and John Harbottle. A sales price hasn’t been announced, but the new owners will reportedly assume $2 million in debt.

     Eden, Utah. A home builder has purchased the golf course at the former Wolf Creek Resort. A partnership led by John Lewis, the owner of Lewis Homes, paid an undisclosed price for the 18-hole, 52-year-old layout. The partners already own other attractions at Wolf Creek, so the purchase allows them to control more pieces of the puzzle. “With the acquisition of the golf course, we can now integrate resident and commercial development with semi-private golf and other community-based activities,” Lewis told the Salt Lake Tribune. “We now have a way to bring back the resort, a sense of community that essentially vanished with the recession and bankruptcy.” The seller was an entity called KRK Wolf Creek, which reportedly bought the property from a local bank in 2012.

     Bullard, Texas. Steven Plybon, a local oil man, has acquired a golf community anchored by Eagle’s Bluff Country Club. Plybon and his partners believe their purchase has given the club “renewed optimism for the future.” Eagle’s Bluff, the featured attraction of a gated community that lies along Lake Palestine outside Tyler, features an 18-hole, Carlton Gipson-designed golf course. It was once known as the Challenge at Eagle’s Bluff, part of a collection of courses owned by David Carlile.

     Beaufort, North Carolina. Culminating a process that took nearly a year, a development-minded duo from Raleigh has taken possession of North River Club. Todd Saieed and Ven Poole haven’t revealed what they paid for the seven-year-old club, which has been in financial trouble for several years. The club, which features an 18-hole, Bob Moore-designed golf course, is the centerpiece of a 629-acre community that could have as many as 1,500 houses, along with a retail/commercial area, at build-out. Thanks to a moribund local housing market, so far only 35 houses have been built.

     Palm Coast, Florida. A defunct golf property in Flagler County has sold for less than the price of some surrounding houses. A Jacksonville-based group led by Stephen Richardson and Michael Yokan reportedly purchased Matanzas Woods Golf Course, an Arnold Palmer-designed track that hasn’t operated since 2007, for a measly $266,750. The sellers reportedly paid $2 million for Matanzas Woods and two other nearby courses in 2011.