Deeds and Weeds

Moonlight Basin Files Chapter 11

11.19.09 | 6:05 PM
Moonlight basin.jpgMoonlight Basin, a high-end golf-and-ski resort with a partially completed Jack Nicklaus course (pictured), has filed for bankruptcy protection. So reports New West.

The move came just one day before a foreclosure that would have handed the keys of the ambitious Montana development to Lehman Brothers, its primary lender. (Lehman itself declared bankruptcy protection last year.) The bankruptcy should allow six-year-old Moonlight Basin to operate its ski business this season. The fate of its golf course, known as the Reserve, is less clear.

Court documents show Lehman has provided $3.6 million to maintain operations since its $100 million loan to Moonlight Basin went into default last fall. New West cites sources "familiar with the situation" who say the resort's value today is likely less than $50 million, despite appraisals showing it to be worth more than $200 million.

-- P.F.
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Rich Folks Live Near Trump Course

11.19.09 | 9:39 AM
getImage.jpgWe got an email this week from Donald Trump with a photocopy of this Washington Post story attached. Dated Nov. 7, it concerns Loudoun County, Va., and the many yuppies living there.

A study found, as the article notes, that the county  "boasts the nation's highest concentration of residents 25 to 34 with salaries of $100,000 or more -- about 10 percent of the population vs. 2 percent nationally."

Donald helpfully scribbled on the news clipping: "Home of Trump National. Great!"

Indeed, Trump's latest golf course acquisition -- the former Lowes Island Club, now Trump National Washington D.C. -- is featured prominently in the article. "The wealth [in the county] is astonishing. And you're only going to see that grow," the article quotes Eric Trump, Donald's son, as saying. Eric is overseeing the golf course project.

Trump National D.C. has two courses, one designed by Tom Fazio and the other by Arthur Hills.

-- P.F.
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Amelia Island's Bankruptcy Filing

11.18.09 | 6:39 PM

images.jpgAmelia Island Plantation has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the Associated Press is reporting. The Florida resort said in court documents it would not have enough cash on hand to meet payroll this Friday without help from a group of homeowners who have been negotiating a possible investment.

The resort has four golf courses: Ocean Links (pictured), Oak Marsh, Long Point and Amelia River. All operations will remain open during the bankruptcy reorganization, the AP quotes President Jack Healan as saying.

The company has 825 employees and a semi-monthly payroll of more than $800,000, the AP says.

-- P.F.



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Waverly Oaks Deal On Hold

11.11.09 | 8:15 PM
hollywood-east-snow-lg.jpgWaverly Oaks Golf Club in Plymouth, Mass., was supposed to be plowed under before Christmas. The plan was to turn the daily fee course into a 240-acre movie and TV studio—a "Hollywood East" that would be known as Plymouth Rock Studios. The groundbreaking was just weeks away.

But now the Boston Globe is reporting that the $550 million deal is on hold as the studio scrambles to make alternate plans for its funding.

Quoting from the paper: "News of the financial turnabout comes just a week after the Globe began making inquiries about the background of the studio’s would-be financier, Prosperity International LLC, of Orlando, Fla."

Which makes me wonder, what about the golf course? The Brian Silva-designed 18, which I played a few years ago and liked, gets 4 stars out of a possible 5 in Golf Digest's Places to Play reader ratings. Its web site implies it was staying open till Nov. 29, right before the movie-studio groundbreaking, though the Globe says it closed on Nov. 1. Either way, it looks like area golfers may be getting a reprieve...of no telling how long.

-- P.F.


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Omaha's Ironwood CC to Close

11.10.09 | 1:05 PM
Ironwood CC, one of the oldest golf clubs in Omaha (founded in 1924, and originally called Highland CC) will close at the end of this year, unable to make the debt payments on a huge loan it took out in 1999 to pay for capital improvements. The property is to be sold at a trustee auction Jan. 22. Details in this story in the Omaha World-Herald.

Sadly, the aspects of Ironwood's troubles are all-too-familiar in the private club world these days. Ten years ago, when the golf business was much more bullish than it is now, the club felt it needed a better clubhouse in order to compete with other golf facilities in Omaha -- so it borrowed $10.7 million for that and other internal projects.

But the economy soured, and Ironwood's membership plummeted -- the story says the club now has between 200-225 members, down from a one-time high of 350 members (plus 250 more who were social members only). That means a lot less business for that new clubhouse, which probably was a factor in the loan becoming overdue.

-- G.R.

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The Twisty Tetherow Tale

11.09.09 | 3:30 PM
6_Tetherow.jpgThe short history of Tetherow -- a high-end golf community in Oregon with a highly regarded David McLay Kidd-designed course -- has more than its share of twists and turns. Here's an article in the Bend Bulletin that'll bring you up to speed, if you are so inclined.

The condensed version: Only 59 of 302 plots have sold and just "a handful" of homes have been built on them. The master developer, Arrowood Tetherow, had to unload most of its residential lots, plus the property where it planned to build a hotel and the golf course itself. Now it's getting pressure from another one of the developers, Virtual Realty Enterprises of St. Louis, which has filed a notice of default for failure to pay $12 million on an $18 million line of credit, the Bend paper reports. The credit line is secured by two lots and 12 acres set aside for overnight accommodations.

“Like any other property you bought two years ago, it's probably worth half now," the paper quotes residential lot owner Gwil Evans as saying. "But I think that location will be among the first to come back and will do better than any other (Central Oregon) golf course location."

The course, as we noted back in May, is now owned by a company headed by Chris Van der Velde, who played briefly on the PGA Tour. Originally intended to be super-private, Tetherow is basically open to the public now. Our colleague Matt Ginella played the course earlier this year and loved it. Here's the online version of his report.

-- P.F.
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And He's Off...

10.29.09 | 6:36 PM
Picture 6.jpgYes, the Donald has begun construction of Trump International Golf Links Scotland— a project he promises will include "the greatest golf course in history." Among the first tasks: planting grass to stabilize its environmentally sensitive dunes, the Associated Press reports.

Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., told Scotland's Press & Journal that golfers would be teeing off within 18 months to two years.

The newspaper is reporting Trump may have nearly reached a deal with with several area landowners who have been holding out, refusing to sell him their property.

Meanwhile, a group called Tripping Up Trump continues to protest the project, claiming it will damage the environment. (Trump Jr. had some choice words for the group, who were absent from the site on his most recent visit: "They are probably playing in their sandbox right now," he told the Scotsman newspaper. "It's recess at school and they probably weren't able to get their parents to write them a permission slip to leave.")

Trump's  £1 billion project includes two golf courses, a 450-bedroom hotel, and nearly 1,500 homes. The developer is holding off on the homes for now, hoping for a turnaround in the real estate market. The championship course will be designed by Tom Fazio II, 38-year-old nephew of famed architect Tom Fazio.

-- P.F.

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Balsam Homeowners Rally Against Foreclosure

10.29.09 | 4:28 PM
balsamgolf2.jpgBalsam Mountain Preserve is a high-end North Carolina community with an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course (pictured) and some big financial problems. But its well-heeled homeowners are fighting back against an impending foreclosure by a lender that is owed $20 million.

Passing around the hat, a group of members has raised commitments for nearly $16 million, according to the Smoky Mountain News. The money comes from 65 property owners, representing nearly a third of the community. Their goal: to get control of the property and head off the foreclosure. A hearing on the foreclosure was scheduled for this week but has been postponed till late November.

"Nobody knows what a new owner or someone who took over would do,” the article quotes Nancy Seidensticker, a homeowner, as saying. “It is a little frightening. We don’t want it change. We like it the way it is.”

I know what she means. I visited Balsam Mountain Preserve earlier this month and stayed with a friend who has a home there. It's a beautiful, intensely peaceful spot. The community was developed by Chaffin/Light, the team behind Chechessee Creek and Spring Island in South Carolina and a handful of other luxury properties.

It's not the only area community to run into financial trouble. The developer behind nearby Seven Falls, a community with an Arnold Palmer design of its own, filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this week, the Hendersonville Times-News reports. The bankruptcy filing shows $47.2 million in liabilities and $60.7 million in assets. National Bank of South Carolina says developer Keith Vinson defaulted on a $15.7 million loan.

-- P.F.


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'Spectacular' Golf Homes For Sale

10.27.09 | 6:22 PM
0053889-1.jpg"Top Ten Real Estate Deals," a self-described independent web site, is featuring what it considers America's 10 Most Spectacular Golf Homes.

Have a look here. Some are nicer than others. In a few, the decor will turn your stomach. But they're all on golf courses and they're all certainly ... big!

The least expensive one is asking a "mere" $3 million. Hint: It's the one in Colorado.

In reverse order, they are at the following clubs:

10. Castle Pines (Castle Rock, Colo.)
9. Bay Colony Golf Club at Pelican Marsh (Naples)
8. Kapalua Resort (Maui). This one is Jim Furyk's home, the web site says.
7. The Bear's Club (Jupiter, Fla.)
6. TPC Las Vegas
5. St. Andrews C.C. (Boca Raton)
4. Big Canyon C.C. (Newport Beach)
3. Paradise Valley C.C. (Paradise Valley, Ariz.)
2. Pebble Beach G. Links
1. Three Ponds (Bridgehampton, N.Y.)

The No. 1 house, which features a private, Rees Jones-designed course, sits on roughly 60 acres (pictured) in the Hamptons. The asking price is listed on Top Ten's site as "upon request" but I emailed the listing broker and got the number: $68 million.

-- P.F.
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For Sale: Norman's Colorado Digs

10.27.09 | 11:09 AM
ISubp9zsdfxcwz.jpgIt's not on a golf course, per se, but Greg Norman's massive Seven Lakes Ranch in Colorado is for sale...and if you can afford the asking price ($55 million) you can probably afford to build your own course on its 11,000 acres.

What you do get: a sporting clays course, a Dance Hall (recently renovated!), horse barn, main staff office, ranch house and maintenance shop, plus almost two miles of private "gold medal" fishing on the White River.

Norman bought most of the acreage from financier Henry Kravis back in 2004. The mailing address is Meeker, Colo.

Here's a link to its listing on Zillow.com. Note the helpful callout showing your potential monthly mortgage payment of $234,991.

-- P.F.
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