The turnkey sale on April 7 at the Alliance, Ohio club will include the 117-acre property and business, along with a liquor license, equipment and buildings. Owner Mike Monastra sees potential for the 92-year-old club “everywhere he looks,” but is ready to move on at the age of 77.
Mike Monastra, owner of Sleepy Hollow Golf Club in Alliance, Ohio, sees potential everywhere he looks while at the club, The Alliance Review reported. Monastra first saw it five years ago when he bought the club, The Review reported, and he sees it now, as he gets ready to sell it.
“I’m 77 years old … and tired,” Monastra told The Review in explaining his decision to have the club and its 18-hole golf course, which measures 6,294 yards from the back tees, sold by Kiko Auctions at the course at noon on April 7.
“We’re going to sell as a turnkey,” auctioneer Russell T. Kiko, Jr., told The Review.
That means submitting one bid for the whole property, and no pieces or parts, The Review reported. The sale includes the 117-acre property, business, liquor license, equipment and buildings. Right down to a plaque in the locker room that pays tribute to a former club member, who died in 2010, and reads: “Hugh “Red” Lee provided a new home for thousands of lost golf balls.”
Monastra has insisted that the sale be conducted that way, The Review reported. He was a Sleepy Hollow member years ago, long before he purchased it, so he has a soft spot for it.
“Our goal is to maintain a golf course,” he said, explaining the buyer will have to honor contracts in place for this year for multiple golf leagues and outings.
That caveat, Monastra added, will ensure that 92-year-old Sleepy Hollow sees at least one more season.
After that? Obviously, the future is up to the buyer, The Review reported. But Monastra said it would be challenging to develop the property for houses or other uses, because railroad tracks bisect the course, splitting the front and back nines.
Monastra, who also owned Skyland Pines Golf Club in Canton, Ohio at the time, purchased Sleepy Hollow from its members in 2014, The Review reported. Since then, he says he’s spent several hundred thousand dollars and plenty of sweat equity replacing the irrigation system and building a driving range.
“I wanted all of that done, so it’s ready to go for whoever comes in,” he said, adding that he’s also agreed to stay on for a while to assist whoever buys the place.
“Just let me cook at all [the outings] and play golf; that’s all I’d need,” he said with a laugh.
Sleepy Hollow features paved cart paths from tee to green on every hole and a five-acre lake to feed the double-row irrigation system, which waters the fairways and rough, The Review reported.
The club also includes an unused second-floor grill room/banquet area that Monastra has always believed would be an ideal location for a restaurant in the future, The Review reported.
While the golf course may not be overly long, it can be tricky, General Manager Mike Siefke told The Review. “It’s a golf course where you’ve got to pay attention; it’s got a lot of character” Siefke said.
The toughest hole, Monastra said, is the par-5, No. 6, which plays at 530 yards from the tips. It also features a small pond that juts into the fairway about 120 yards in front of the green.
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