BPR Holdings, which took over operations after Integrity Golf’s departure in 2016, has exited its agreement to run the club and golf course. This is the second time in three years that the club’s doors have closed, as various owners have struggled to keep the course viable for more than 12 years.
BPR Holdings has exited its agreement to run the Country Club of Bristol (Tenn.), according to a written statement from club co-owner Mitch Walters, the Bristol (Va.) Herald Courier reported.
“BPR Holdings, owned by Patrick and Renee MacNeil, announced their decision to cease operations and close the golf course at the Country Club of Bristol, effective Jan. 31, 2018,” Walters said.
Walters and local businessman Roscoe Bowman formed Bristol Preservation LLC and purchased the club in 2015 “with the intention to protect the Country Club of Bristol, which is the oldest country club in the state of Tennessee. We apologize for any inconvenience and will share any future plans for the club at a later date.”
Walters declined to give details on the lease agreement with BPR Holdings and also declined comment on whether a lawsuit would be forthcoming.
This is the second time in three years that the club’s doors have closed, but various owners have struggled to keep the course viable for more than a dozen years, the Herald Courier reported.
In 2005, the club was on the brink of closing when membership drastically declined and remaining members struggled to make payments on the club’s debt. Later in the year, Interstate Realty owners Brent Roswall and Mike Nidiffer bought the club in an effort to revive it. Trupoint Bank obtained the course about five years ago and continued managing it until it changed hands again in 2015. Bristol Preservation purchased it in July 2015 and entered into a lease with Integrity Golf Co. LLC and Knight 39 Holdings to manage the course until 2025, the Herald Courier reported.
Integrity Golf Co. sold IGC-Bristol Country Club, the club’s tenant, to Knight 39 Holdings in March, according to records provided by an Integrity lawyer. The Orlando, Fla,, company, now apparently defunct, abruptly walked out on their 10-year lease in August 2016, leaving club owners scrambling to find someone to take over day-to-day operations, the Herald Courier reported.
C&RB reported on the dispute at the time, as well as Integrity Golf’s response.
Bristol Preservation filed a $1.75 million lawsuit on October 4, 2016, in Sullivan County Law Court against IGC-Bristol Country Club LLC, Integrity Golf Co. LLC and Knight 39 Holdings. Walters told the Bristol Herald Courier that the suit was settled out of court but declined to give details about the settlement.
The MacNeils took over the club’s operations shortly after Integrity Golf Co. left. In July 2017, Patrick MacNeil told a group of about 225 people at a public meeting at the Bristol Country Club that the daily operations to maintain the course were well over $40,000 a month and that he and his wife had been paying about half of that with their own funds since they took over the management, the Herald Courier reported.
Renee MacNeil said during the meeting, “We’re in this for the long haul—we want the club to be sustainable for the next hundred years.”
Walters also said in a written statement that “Patrick made the decision to leave…not us.”
Bristol Preservation will still allow the club’s current members and non-members to use the golf course until further notice, the Herald Courier reported.
“Members can register, and non-members can pay green fees at Lifestyle Fitness,” he said, which is located next to the club.
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