Transactions, december 5, 2014

     Nichols, South Carolina. A Chinese group is said to be “close to acquiring” its second golf property in the Myrtle Beach area. Kang Zou, the leader of the entity that bought Black Bear Golf Club in Longs earlier this year, has made an offer on Pineland Country Club, a venue that features an 18-hole, Gene Hamm-designed golf course. Zou’s price hasn’t been disclosed, but Pineland, a 260-acre spread that opened in 1971, is reportedly on the market for $699,000. “That’s why the Chinese are buying all these properties, because land is cheap right now,” said Danny Baxley, the managing partner of the group that owns Pineland. According to the Myrtle Beach Sun News, Chinese investors currently own six golf properties in and around Myrtle Beach, among them the 54-hole complex at Sea Trail Golf Resort in Sunset Beach.

     Evans, Georgia. Tower Three Partners has acquired its first property in Georgia, Champions Retreat Golf Club. The Greenwich, Connecticut-based investment firm reportedly paid $6.64 million for the nine-year-old venue, which claims to be the world’s only golf property with courses -- all nine-holers, unfortunately -- designed by Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player. The club, a drawing card for a community of McMansions in suburban Augusta, will be managed by Tower Three’s operating affiliate, Heritage Golf Group. Davis Sezna, Heritage’s managing partner and chief purveyor of inane marketing drivel, calls Champions Retreat “an incredibly rare property that will enable us to create a truly unique experience in a world of unique experiences.” The club is now one of eight similarly rare and unique properties in the Tower Three/Heritage portfolio. The partners tout their holdings as being “best in class,” but not even one of the eight ranks among the top 10 in Golf Digest’s state-by-state rankings.

     Independence, Missouri. Landscapes Unlimited has gotten rid of an unwanted asset. The big golf construction company has sold Drumm Farm Golf Club, a 280-acre spread, to GreatLife Golf & Fitness, one of the major golf ownership groups in the Midwest. Topeka, Kansas-based GreatLife, which was established in the mid 1980s, appears to own close to 20 golf properties in Kansas and Missouri, most of them in and around Kansas City. The company initially made its mark by selling affordable golf at affordable prices (some of its monthly memberships run as low as $30), although nowadays it charges more for access to its “select” and “elite” venues. Drumm Farm, part of the “elite” group, features an 18-hole, Mike Hurdzan-designed course and a nine-hole, executive-length track. Landscapes Unlimited had owned the property since 2002.

     Naples, Florida. Four years after making his initial investment in Southwest Florida’s golf business, Dick Klass has purchased a second golf property from Stock Development. Klass and his sons, who operate as Klass Capital Group, reportedly paid $8.2 million for Club at the Strand, a 17-year-old venue that features a 27-hole, Gordon Lewis-designed golf complex. “We think the timing is right to be buying clubs,” Klass told the Naples Daily News. The Strand is the centerpiece of a gated, 500-acre community whose more than 1,000 home owners are obligated to become club members. The property is said to be profitable, and Klass views himself as being in “a very long-term ownership position.” The Strand hosted an event on the LPGA Tour for three years in the late 1990s. It’ll complement the family’s Club at Grandezza in nearby Estero.

     Muskegon, Michigan. One of Michigan’s oldest golf properties has changed hands. Last month a dozen investors operating as MCC Partners LLC reportedly paid a local bank “just north of $3 million” to clear the debt that’s been strangling Muskegon Country Club. “We are doing this for the long haul, solely to keep what is a historically significant and important community asset in Muskegon,” one of the investors told the Muskegon Chronicle. The new owners hope to attract dearly needed new members by reviving the 106-year-old venue and its 18-hole, Donald Ross-designed golf course.

     Lincolnton, North Carolina. A local developer has come to the rescue of Lincoln Country Club, whose existence had been threatened by money troubles. “I want to bring the Lincoln Country Club back to life,” Willie Heafner declared to the Lincoln Times-News. To do so, Heafner believes that he needs to sign roughly 200 new members, as the club currently has only about 150. Lincoln, which was founded in 1946, features an 18-hole, Peter Tufts-designed golf course.

     Horicon, Wisconsin. The city of Horicon has agreed to sell its 18-hole golf course to a local course owner who claims to have “a history of taking distressed courses and turning them into facilities that we and our communities are proud of.” Lee Merkel has offered $420,000 for the Homer Fieldhouse-designed Rock River Hills Golf Course, which opened in 1969 and evidently needs the expertise he can offer. Merkel presumably made his reputation by conducting turnarounds at his two nearby golf properties, Golf Club at Camelot in Lomira and West Bend Lakes Golf Club in West Bend. He’s given Rock River Hills a new name -- Horicon Hills Golf Club -- and he’s pledged to operate the facility for at least five years. If he ever decides to sell it, the city has first dibs on the purchase.

     Campton, New Hampshire. At a public auction last month, an unidentified group agreed to buy an 18-hole, Mark Mungeam-designed golf course in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The 16-year-old track is among the attractions at Owl’s Nest Resort, a nearly 600-acre spread that had recently been forced into foreclosure. Owl’s Next has been master-planned for 490 single-family houses and condos, but the Manchester Union Leader reports that only 112 lots have been sold. Tom Mullen, the community’s developer, believes that his real estate sales stagnated because prospective buyers didn’t want to live beneath the electrical transmission lines that a utility wants to build through the property. He sued to block the construction, but a court agreed with the utility’s argument, which was that Owl’s Nest “has suffered the effects of a deep recession.” The new owners, who bid just over $2 million for Mullen’s property, intend to complete the community’s build-out. Roughly speaking, they have until the end of the year to close on the transaction.

     Brownsburg, Indiana. At an auction last month, a financially troubled golf property in suburban Indianapolis reportedly fetched more than $900,000. The winning bid on West Chase Golf Club was submitted by “a Hendricks County businessman” who has yet to be identified, although the Indianapolis Star has learned that he plans to continue operating the club and its 18-hole, Ron Kern-designed golf course. West Chase’s former owner, a group called Hole In One, Inc., had filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year.

     Estero, Florida. This news is getting cold, so it’s high time for me to note that West Bay Club now belongs to its members and residents of its accompanying, nearly completely built-out private community. The new owners paid an undisclosed price for the 15-year-old club, which features an 18-hole course that was co-designed by Pete and P. B. Dye. The transaction took place in March 2014.