Source: The Free Lance-Star (Fredericksburg, Va.)
A golf management company's lease on Stafford County's first public golf course is going to foreclosure.
Meadowbrook Golf, which has managed the Gauntlet at Curtis Park since 1999, defaulted on its loan for the lease of the county-owned property, according to a foreclosure notice in The Free Lance Star.
Regional Vice President of Operations Mike Hatch said Meadowbrook was unsuccessful in its efforts to renegotiate terms with the lender. He declined to elaborate.
Meadowbrook is a national golf-course ownership and management company based in ChampionsGate, Fla. Its leasehold for the Gauntlet will go up for public auction at 11 a.m. Feb. 25 at Stafford County Courthouse's front door.
"The Gauntlet is in a great location with beautiful views, zoysia grass and is well maintained. It has a lot of value," said Bill Carter, Stafford's assistant director of economic development. "I'm sure there's going to be more than one person in attendance on that date."
He said it's likely that the lease's new owners would take over immediately, and players wouldn't notice the change. And receptions and other events scheduled at the Gauntlet's clubhouse would likely still be held.
"The leasehold deed includes assignment of rents and anything that's processed. That's part of what you're bidding on," Carter said. "You'd think that someone would want to honor those because they would have value."
This would not be the first time the Gauntlet's lease has changed hands.
Brassie Golf Corp., a Tampa-based firm, built the 18-hole, P.B. Dye-designed public course in 1995, then sold it to KSL Fairways Inc. in Manassas three years later.
At the time, Brassie told the Tampa Bay Business Journal that it was no longer interested in owning golf courses and was focusing instead on marketing golf-related consumer products and developing an upscale golf resort in St. Augustine, Fla.
Meadowbrook Golf Group took over the Gauntlet's lease in 1999 when it formed a jointly owned company with Apollo Real Estate Investment Fund IV to buy KSL Fairways Golf Corp.
Carter said he didn't know why Meadowbrook's lease is going to foreclosure, but noted that the drought conditions in 2002 and above-average rainfall in 2003 took a toll on area golf courses.
He also pointed out that the Gauntlet faces increased competition from other golf courses that have sprung up in the Fredericksburg area and in Northern Virginia over the past decade.
"The demographics for golf in Stafford is strong," Carter said, "but at some point supply and demand can factor into it." Ten years ago, there were only three local golf courses: the one at the former Sheraton Inn in Fredericksburg, Meadow Farms Golf Club in Locust Grove and Lee's Hill Golfers' Club in Spotsylvania County.
Those courses were booked solid by area residents and Northern Virginians who were having trouble arranging times at the handful of courses in their area.
Now there are eight golf courses serving the Fredericksburg area, including newly opened Mattaponi Springs Golf Course in Caroline County. To fill tee times, they're reaching out to both local golfers and tourists.
The Fredericksburg Golf Co-op, which includes area golf courses and motels, hired one of the country's largest golf tourism companies last year to package and promote golfing vacations here.
As a result, the number of rounds tourists played at co-op member courses climbed from 269 in 2003 to 1,654 last year, said Megan Orient, Stafford County's tourism director.
At least two more golf courses are planned for the Fredericksburg area in the years ahead. Canon Ridge Golf Course, part of the planned Celebrate Virginia Tourism project, will begin accepting memberships in its private Battleground Golf Club on March 10. It will break ground on the project next winter, and work is expected to be completed in about 18 months.
Bob Baldassari, PGA head professional at Cannon Ridge, said he thinks the new club -- which will be Celebrate's second course -- will do well because the Fredericksburg area is growing at such a fast clip and there will be a demand for a private golf club.
"We believe there'll be some people from Richmond and up to the beltway that will be joining Battleground because of the way it's structured," he said.
Cannon Ridge eventually plans to add a third golf course at its complex off U.S. 17.
"I'm not sure what the plans are for that one," Baldassari said.
Fredericksburg isn't the only place where golf courses are facing increased competition. It's happening all across the country, said Jon Guhl, assistant executive director of the Stafford-based Middle Atlantic PGA.
"The problem is that the number of people playing the game is not growing, but the number of golf courses is." The number of golfers has held steady at 25 million for the past seven or eight years, he said. About 3 million people get involved in the sport each year, but another 3 million leave.
Yet companies are continuing to build golf courses, although at a steadily declining rate since 2000, according to the National Golf Foundation.
There were 400 new 18-hole equivalent courses that year. Four years later, openings had dropped to 150.5 18-hole equivalent courses -- and 62.5 18-hole equivalent courses closed.
There are now 16,057 golf facilities across the country, including 9-hole and 18-hole courses.
