Transactions, january 15, 2016

     Canton, Massachusetts. Peter Nanula has come to the rescue of Blue Hill Country Club, the only venue in Massachusetts that’s hosted a PGA Championship. Blue Hill, which opened in 1925, has been losing members since 2012, when it spent $6 million on a clubhouse renovation, and it desperately needed an infusion of cash for upgrades that might lure them back. Nanula’s Concert Golf Partners hasn’t announced what it paid for Blue Hill, but the 210-acre property reportedly has an assessed value of $5.2 million. Concert owns 11 other golf properties, in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina, and Oklahoma. “We look all over the country for large-scale private clubs that have a quality golf course and quality facilities,” Nanula told the Canton Citizen. Blue Hill’s quality facilities include an 18-hole, Skip Wogan-designed course and a nine-hole layout that was designed by Wogan’s son, Phil. The club was the site of the PGA Championship in 1956, and it hosted an event on the LPGA Tour through most of the 1990s.

     Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Ron Jaworski has acquired his seventh golf property. A partnership led by the former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback -- the group includes wealthy Philadelphia-based investor Ira Lubert and current Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco -- has paid an undisclosed amount for Ramblewood Country Club, a venue in suburban Philadelphia that opened in the early 1960s. Ramblewood features a 27-hole complex that was designed by Ed Ault. Jaworski and his partners bought it from John Goodwin and members of the Goodwin family, who’ve been trying to close the club and build houses on its acreage for a decade or more. Jaworski, who operates via Ron Jaworski Golf, has a controlling interest in four other golf properties in New Jersey -- among them RiverWinds Golf & Tennis Club in West Deptford and Running Deer Golf Club in Pittsgrove -- and two in Pennsylvania. He plans to retain John Goodwin as the club’s general manager.

     Robinsonville, Mississippi. A Clearwater, Florida-based investment company has purchased the defunct Harrah’s Tunica casino property, a 2,200-acre spread that includes an 18-hole golf course. TJM Properties reportedly paid Caesars Entertainment Corporation $3 million for what was originally known as Grand Casino Tunica. The casino, which opened in the mid 1990s, closed in 2014. It was supposed to bring a spark of economic life to Tunica County, once the poorest county in the nation’s poorest state, but it went broke during the Great Recession. For its money, TJM gets two hotels (more than total 1,000 rooms), a convention center, an RV park, a shooting range, and a golf course that was designed by Stan Gentry of Hale Irwin Golf Design. In an e-mail to the Associated Press, a TJM official said that his firm was “considering both reopening the property or selling parcels to interested buyers.”

     Newport Beach, California. An investment group led by Buck Johns plans to revitalize the faded Newport Beach Golf Course, a property it purchased late last year. Newport Beach’s 18-hole, executive-length course, a David Rainville design, was born on the Fourth of July in 1976. The Orange County Register reports that the lighted track nowadays attracts about 30,000 rounds a year, a sharp decline from the 87,000 rounds it once counted, and is “in desperate need of a facelift.” If they can extend the lease on the property, Johns and his partners plan to make “millions of dollars” worth of improvements, according to the newspaper, and they may hire Tom Fazio to oversee the work on the golf course. “There is an incomparable lifestyle in Newport Beach,” Johns told the newspaper, “and we should have the finest executive golf course anywhere in the world.” The venue is now called Newport Beach Golf Club.

     Stony Creek, New York. Late last year, during a court-ordered auction, Carol McLean-Wright agreed to pay $1.4 million for 1000 Acres Ranch Resort, a 490-acre spread that features a nine-hole golf course. The resort, which opened in 1942, also has a lodge, cabins, swimming pools, and a rodeo arena. McLean-Wright plans to continue the property’s current operations and plans to add a science camp. “We are purchasing this with the idea of making this the Carnegie Hall of the science world,” she told the Glens Falls Post-Star. 1000 Acres Ranch had been owned by Jack Arehart, who declared for bankruptcy protection in early 2014.

     Middletown, Ohio. The auctioneer who bought Weatherwax Golf Course is going, going, gone. Myron Bowling, who reportedly paid $1.6 million for the 36-hole, Arthur Hills-designed golf complex in 2014, sold it last fall, to MetroParks of Butler County. MetroParks has ended golf operations at the facility and plans to turn the 456-acre property into a park.

     Alachua, Florida. In an attempt to boost the value of their homes, the residents of Turkey Creek Golf & Country Club have purchased their community’s 18-hole golf course. The Ward Northrup-designed layout has been closed since 2011, a victim of declining play and mounting financial losses. Wallace Cain reportedly accepted $1.35 million for the 38-year-old track, and $650,000 has been allocated for renovations. The transaction closed in late December. The homeowners, who’ve been trying to acquire the course for several years, are now looking for a management company.

     Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. Mount Washington Resort, a National Historic Landmark in the state’s White Mountains, has been purchased by its operator. Omni Resorts & Hotels reportedly paid $90.5 million for Mount Washington, a property that features, among other things, a grand old hotel (it dates from 1902), a ski area, and two golf courses: An 18-hole, Donald Ross-designed track and a nine-hole, Alex Findlay-designed layout. The former reportedly opened in 1915, the latter in 1895. CNL Lifestyle Properties of Dallas bought Mount Washington in 2006 and hired Omni to operate it in 2009.

     Butler, Pennsylvania. An affiliate of a company that operates retirement communities and assisted-living centers has acquired a pair of Butler’s golf courses. St. Barnabas Communities has taken possession of Conley Resort and Suncrest Golf Course, which are located on adjoining properties and which feature 18-hole tracks. Conley’s course opened in 1960, Suncrest’s in 1948. The sellers were, respectively, Wayne and Barbara Conley and Keith and Linda Reddinger.

     Worland, Wyoming. According to the Northern Wyoming Daily News -- sorry, but I can’t find a link -- in October 2015 the city of Worland purchased Green Hills Golf Course. The 18-hole track, which describes itself as “Northwest Wyoming’s Hidden Gem,” opened in 1960 and reportedly attracts roughly 20,000 rounds a year. Various sources say that Green Hills was co-designed and built by Dennis Bower and Frank Lebarron, who were presumably its original owners. I can’t determine if they were also the sellers. The city will seek a private-sector manager for the property.