Patrick MacNeil, who operates the club’s Shelbee’s on the Green restaurant, is now also managing the golf course after the previous operator walked out on the 10-year lease. The Royal Tee Country Club, a 27-hole, semi-private facility in Cape Coral, Fla., closed its doors on August 1.
A local restaurateur is now managing the golf course at the Country Club of Bristol (Tenn.) after the previous operator abruptly walked out on the 10-year lease, the Bristol, Va., HeraldCourier reported.
Patrick MacNeil, who has operated Shelbee’s on the Green at the club since May and previously owned and operated Shelbee’s Vintage Café in downtown Bristol, has entered into a short-term management agreement with Bristol Preservation, which is owned by local businessmen Mitch Walters and Roscoe Bowman, the HeraldCourier reported.
The previous golf course operators, Integrity Golf Company LLC, which managed the course for 13 months, left abruptly Sunday. The 18-hole golf course was closed Monday and Tuesday, although golfers who wanted to walk the course could play. Integrity did not respond to the HeraldCourier’s requests for comment.
The course is 120 years old and was having financial issues before Walters and Bowman purchased the property, the HeraldCourier reported.
On Tuesday, Walters said he reached an agreement with MacNeil to manage the course. “It is open,” Walters said. “We have a temporary agreement. It will be a much better experience for our members.”
MacNeil, who said he has worked for golf courses in the Miami, Florida area, said he is mainly bringing customer service experience to the facility, the HeraldCourier reported.
“We were in the restaurant and we know all of the members,” MacNeil said. “We like to think the restaurant, Shelbee’s on the Green, is the heartbeat of the club. Everybody comes in before play, during play and after play. So we get to meet all of the members, interact with them all.”
The short-term agreement will give MacNeil and Bristol Preservation an opportunity to negotiate a long-term lease, both said Tuesday. “We want to be here for the next 20 years,” MacNeil said.
He added that he will have 12 employees and must hire four to fill empty positions, the HeraldCourier reported.
“We’ll be overseeing the greens,” he added. “The current greens-keeper is going to be the superintendent. I will oversee all the functions of the golf course and the staff over at the pro shop.”
During the temporary closure, members did not have access to golf carts, but McNeil said golf carts were expected to arrive Tuesday night. “We have 22 carts arriving and the remainder of the carts will arrive tomorrow and we’ll have a total of 40 carts. All of the tournaments are covered for this week. Yamaha was nice enough to provide these carts for us.”
MacNeil said his goals are to increase membership, create a “fun, positive atmosphere for the players and club members,” and create events, the HeraldCourier reported.
In response to some confusion and to quell any rumors, Cape Coral (Fla.) Parks & Recreation Director Steve Pohlman confirmed on August 1 that Royal Tee Country Club had closed its doors and sent all staff home, the Fort Myers (Fla.) Beach Bulletin reported.
Efforts by the Bulletin to reach Royal Tee management were unsuccessful.
Royal Tee is a 27-hole semiprivate club that is part of the Cape Royal gated community development. The facility has been used for a number of years as the home course for the Cape Coral High School golf teams. Athletic director Tom Kenna is scrambling to find a new home course for the boys’ and girls’ season that begins in less than three weeks, the Bulletin reported.
“I woke up this morning to the news,” said Kenna. “I’m a bit disappointed, but I got on the phone to try to find a new home course. I reached out to several courses, who are checking their dates available with my dates.”
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