California firm manages Lebanon, Ohio, golf course

A Pacific Palisades, Calif., company has taken over management of Shaker Run Golf Course.

Premier Golf Management Inc. took over the Greentree Road course July 1, said Fran Adams, Premier vice president.

"We approached them," Adams said Thursday of former manager Bri-Lyn Inc. "We're very excited about getting into that marketplace."

Adams said her company was seeking opportunities in and around Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. "It's a great, growing area," she said. "We thought it would be a wonderful addition to our portfolio."

Premier plans a U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Shaker Run in 2005. Beyond that, however, Adams said Premier has no changes in mind for Shaker Run "at this point."

A former Armco Steel-owned course designed by Arthur Hills and Michael Hurdzan, the 27-hole Shaker course opened in 1979 as a private club. It opened to the public in 1994.

Shaker Run is one of five courses Premier has leased in the Cincinnati area from Bri-Lyn, a Premier announcement said. Besides Shaker, the courses are Crooked Tree Golf Course, Walden Ponds Golf Club, Deer Run Country Club and Traditions Golf Club.

Premier operates 20 U.S. properties in all, its statement said.

A June 30 letter to course vendors from Nicholas Bauer, president of Cincinnati's Vintage Golf Properties Inc. and Bri-Lyn, says Premier is responsible for Shaker Run purchases and remittances as of July 1.

Shaker Run is still owned by the Shaker Corp., Adams said. Bauer's letter said Vintage Golf remains responsible for Clermont Golf, doing business as Oasis Golf and Conference in Clermont County. Shaker Run bought that course in 1999 for $ 6.5 million.

Robert Humphreys, Vintage Golf controller, referred questions to Bauer, who could not be reached for comment.

Source: Middletown Journal, Ohio