A group of 11 investors will purchase the Kingston, N.Y., property and change the business model to include public use of the 18-hole golf course, while offering member-only benefits. The purchase price has not been reported, and the club should begin operating under the new owners by next spring.
Members of the financially struggling Wiltwyck Golf Club in Kingston, N.Y., have voted to sell the club to a group of investors who will make it semi-public, the Kingston-based Daily Freeman reported.
“I can confirm that, on Sunday, the Wiltwyck membership overwhelmingly approved the sale to the investment group,” Steve Digilio, president of the club’s Board of Directors, said on December 19.
The purchase price has been kept under wraps. The club, which was in financial dire straits and at risk of shutting down, was listed most recently for $2.6 million. The original asking price was $3.5 million, the Freeman reported.
Two of the 11 investors, Accord resident Bill Collins and Kingston YMCA Executive Director Heidi Kirschner, said that Wiltwyck will change its business model to include, at first, public use of the 18-hole, par-72 golf course. There still will be member-only benefits, including the use of particular amenities, but that the investors hope, eventually, to provide more than just golf course access to nonmembers, the Freeman reported.
The investment group is committed “to bringing to life a really important asset in the Hudson Valley to the greater community,” said Collins. Collins, a member of the club who has served on its executive committee since 2014, said he recognizes that some people in the community view Wiltwyck as elitist. “We want to change that,” he said.
Earlier this year, the annual membership cost was $3,995 for singles and $4,995 for families. Kirschner said the investors hope the public will “come to the club, be involved in the club and experience new things at the club,” the Freeman reported.
The new ownership group plans to continue to operate a restaurant on the 150-acre property and continue to employ the current staff, the Freeman reported.
At its peak, Wiltwyck had more than 500 members, but the number began to decline after IBM closed its town of Ulster plant in the mid-1990s. Currently, the club has about 200 members, including pool and social members, the Freeman reported.
The investment group expects to close on the Wiltwyck deal either this month or in early 2018, Collins said. A prepared statement issued by the group said Wiltwyck will operate under the new ownership beginning next spring, the Freeman reported.
“The new owners are committed and loyal to Wiltwyck—its history, beauty and relevance in Ulster County,” the statement read.
Wiltwyck was at risk of closing after 63 years in operation until it got a temporary reprieve in late October from members who put up enough money to cover November’s expenses. The investment group made its offer in late November, the Freeman reported.
In August, Digilio said the club’s mortgage had been purchased from Catskill Hudson Bank by Dr. Anthony Bacchi, the Freeman reported.
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