Any details? How much are they indebted? Maybe the bank will take a haircut. Not that it is all comparable but my club went under a year ago and we owed almost 4 million. I negotiated the bank, Bank of America, down to 1 million but the membership balked at buying it, I didnt see enough upside and did not have enough working capital as well as money for necesssary improvements on top of the purchase price to buy it myself. Maybe a mistake long term but didn't want to be strapped in this economy and the horrible weather this year would have made it rough first year. They eventually sold the mortgage to some local investors for 1.565 million.
Dan
What lesson can be gleened from this? That club members looked at what they had and wouldn't pony up $1 Million to own it? It would be interesting to know the replacement cost of the club and how horrific the financials must have been.
And what a turnabout from the days not so long ago when the management companies were putting REITS together to buy packages of golf courses. I am aware of a wonderful local course which gets around 40,000 annual rounds, cost upwards $8 Million to build and can be had for around $3. 2010, a good year operationally, the management company squeezed $100,000 NOI (including depreciation, before debt service) and has no interest in owning the property.
I understand Tom Doak's desire to keep the details to a minimum. Bad information, rumors, hurt feelings and sensitivities help no one. However, knowing the debt and what might be required to acquire the club after foreclosure might be helpful in getting a white knight interested (I come from the school that very wide exposure to potential investors is much better for most stakeholders than hush-hush backroom deals). Who knows, if the course is as good as everyone here says it is, maybe the site can birth the new ownership group (something about putting money where the mouth is).