A judge’s ruling to approve the contracted sale of the nine-hole course to a homebuilder will apparently bring to a close the latest chapter for the third-oldest golf club on the Myrtle Beach area’s Grand Strand. The close has been closed since May and a former Board member was arrested twice in three days for charges that included barricading himself in the clubhouse, leading to forced entry by an armed SWAT team. “It has been a bit of a circus,” said a lawyer for the club’s shareholders.

Conway (S.C.) Golf Club could be sold to homebuilder Beverly Homes within a month, based on a ruling by Horry County (S.C.) Master in Equity Cynthia Graham Howe, The Sun News of Myrtle Beach, S.C. reported.

Howe denied a motion to intervene in a lawsuit involving the club that was filed on behalf of a group of 32 shareholders, and also approved the contracted sale of the nine-hole course, The Sun News reported.

Her ruling could bring to a close a bizarre final chapter for the third-oldest golf club on the Myrtle Beach area’s Grand Strand, The Sun News reported.

Conway GC has been closed since May, after a series of strange incidents that began when the club’s small Board of Directors put the course up for sale late last year, The Sun News reported. Then former Board member Judy Edwards sued the club in March, and former Board member Christopher Lloyd Ross was arrested at the course twice over three days in late March for barricading himself in the clubhouse for several hours on March 26 and allegedly breaking into the clubhouse and causing damage on March 28, leading to forced entry by an armed police SWAT team (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2018/04/man-arrested-third-time-conway-s-c-gc/).

Edwards’ lawsuit against the club attempted to dissolve the golf course corporation through a court order, The Sun News reported.As a shareholder and former Conway Golf Club snack bar worker who is listed as the club’s secretary on the sales contract, Edwards contended in her suit that the course had debts and liabilities it couldn’t pay and was or would soon be insolvent.

A dissolution would have likely resulted in the court taking over the club’s assets and possible sale, The Sun News reported.

“This result [from the dismissal of the motion and approval of the sale to Beverly Homes] will hopefully prevent the club from filing bankruptcy, and leave a substantial amount of money for the shareholders,” said attorney Douglas Zayicek of the Bellamy Law Firm, who represents the club and its Board and acknowledged some shareholders may not be pleased with the court ruling.

“While we understand that disappointment, the club could not survive as a golf course,” Zavicek added. “The ruling from the court benefits all of the shareholders, and prevents a bad situation from getting worse.”

The group of 32 shareholders haven’t determined if they will appeal Howe’s decision, The Sun News reported, according to Reese Boyd III of Davis & Boyd LLC, the attorney who represents them.

Howe said in her decision it was the court’s intent to allow the sale to be completed and not be delayed, should an appeal be filed, The Sun News reported.

In denying shareholder intervention, Howe ruled the shareholders did not prove they had an interest that was not being adequately represented in the case.

The shareholders represented by Boyd were seeking information from the club’s Board regarding shares, shareholders and the sales process, and claim they were denied access to club’s records despite repeated requests. Howe referred to their intervention request as “little more than a fishing expedition,” The Sun News reported.

“We just want information any shareholder is clearly entitled to both under the bylaws of the club and through South Carolina corporate code,” Boyd said. “We didn’t go into this necessarily with the intent to stop the sale. We just wanted transparency on how it was decided to sell the property and the process.”

Some shareholders have also expressed concern about how shares may have been created, how many have been created, and how they have been distributed in recent years, The Sun News reported.

“Our motion to intervene was aimed at opening up the corporate books and bringing transparency and openness to a story that is both bizarre and shrouded in mystery,” Boyd said. “It has been a bit of a circus.”