Pacific Links International sold another course in August — the Pete Dye Golf Club, its top-rated U.S. golf property.
The new owner of the club, in Bridgeport, West Virginia, is Randy Buzzo, a local auto dealer who told the Dominion Post that he loves to play “the best courses in the world.” He acquired the course for $2.7 million.
The golf course has a troubled history. James LaRosa, a coal operator, had developed the course on a reclaimed strip mine in 1995. He sold it to Golf Trust of America, but bought it back in 2001 for almost $16 million when that REIT ran into trouble.
However, LaRosa defaulted on a $9 million loan to Textron Financial. Textron purchased the club in a foreclosure auction in 2008 for $7 million, which company officials said left a balance of $2.7 million, plus interest, on the loan.
Pacific Links acquired the property in 2012.
Since March 2015, Pacific Links has sold three courses on the island of O’ahu in Hawaii (Kapolei Golf Course, Olomana Golf Links, and Royal Hawaiian Golf Club) as well as DragonRidge Country Club and SouthShore Golf Club in Henderson, Nevada. At its height, it owned 11 courses, but is now down to four.
The company is shifting strategy from that of a course owner to a membership driven business with affiliations with golf courses. The company has more than 6,000 members, mostly Chinese.