A number of golf courses that were once part of Warrior Custom Golf have become available on the market and are being sold together as a portfolio. The six public courses are being sold together for $7 million. They are:
- Baneberry Golf Resort (Tennessee)
- Heddles Hideaway Golf (South Carolina)
- Kings Creek Golf Club (Tennessee)
- Ole Still Golf Club (North Carolina)
- Royal St Augustine Golf Club (Florida)
- Whispering Woods Golf Club (North Carolina)
The sale comes almost one year after Warrior Custom Golf’s chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. The company had a custom golf fitting business and owned approximately 15 golf courses when it filed for bankruptcy in early 2019.
In March 2019, Force 10 Partners, based in Los Angeles, was hired to lead the restructuring. Force 10 hired Links Capital Advisors led by Chris Charnas to develop a strategy for the golf courses. Links Capital Advisors brought in Green Golf Partners to run the portfolio in the interim. Troon acquired that management company in June 2019.
“We had to move to try to stabilize things and improve cash flow so we could figure out a long-term strategy,” Charnas said.
Four of Warrior’s courses were sold in 2019, including Rio Vista in California, Limestone Springs in Alabama and Reems Creek and Ashboro Country Club in North Carolina. Three other courses are also in the process of being sold off as separate assets to local buyers. Warrior-owned Cimmeron Golf Resort is not being marketed for sale currently.
The six courses that are on the market as a portfolio are being sold that way said Charnas because “there’s some geographic symmetry to them.”
Of the six Charnas says Royal St. Augustine is the best of the group. “We are motivated to sell them. We have six courses for $7 million. That’s a pretty attractive price.”
He says it is a low entry point for someone wanting to get into the golf business or for someone wanting to expand an existing portfolio. He noted, “All the properties need some CapEx.”
As Warrior started to have financial problems, the company wasn’t putting as much money into marketing, advertising and customer relations, according to Charnas, “so there is an opportunity for someone to come in to try to improve things.”
Even getting the word out to the communities that there is a new owner has had positive results for the other Warrior properties that sold in 2019, he said.
Links has sold portfolios of similar size for $25 million to $35 million, “so the thought that you could buy six for seven (million) reflects the state of Warrior Golf and the state of part of the industry,” said Charnas.