After seeing a foreclosure auction sign for the Orrington, Maine property, local businesswoman Erlene Morgan submitted a successful (and the only) bid for the 18-hole course. She handed out free beers to patrons, but admitted she doesn’t know anything about golf and wasn’t sure what she might do with the property.

 

Local businesswoman Erlene Morgan said she was driving past Rocky Knoll Country Club in Orrington, Maine on March 15 when she noticed the foreclosure auction sign for the 18-hole golf course and decided to take a look, the Bangor (Maine) Daily News reported.

“I turned around,” said Morgan, who goes by the nickname Stella. “Maybe I shouldn’t have.”

Two hours later, Morgan owned the country club, having submitted the only bid of $350,001 for the par-72 course, the Daily News reported.

Morgan described herself as a “self-made businesswoman” but declined to say what type of business. She owns some apartment buildings in town and the region, Town Manager Paul White told the Daily News.

“She’s bought property in Orrington and resells it,” White said. “She’s into that quite a bit. I would not be surprised if she was looking to develop something, but I do not know.”

Veteran golfers from the area lined the clubhouse during the auction, which started at 11 a.m. and concluded after 1 p.m., and congratulated Morgan after the bidding ended, the Daily News reported. Those who shook her hand asked if she played golf and what she planned to do with the course. But they were clearly disappointed with her responses, the Daily News reported.

“I do not golf,” she said to one man. “It’s too hard on the body.”

Morgan’s response to several questions about her plans for the 156.53-acre property was “I don’t know,” the Daily News reported. “I think I just stepped into it,” she said. “I was just driving by and saw the auction sign.”

The grumbling in reaction to what Morgan said was clearly audible, the Daily News reported. “She don’t know. Great,” one man said after hearing her response.

Many of those who attended, including Allen Staples and Stephen Newcomb, both of Bucksport, Maine, showed up because they wanted to know if they were going to have a golf course to play on and if paid memberships would be honored, the Daily News reported.

“I just want to see if somebody is going to take care of it,” Jerry Goss, a golfer and City Council member from Brewer, Maine, said before the auction.

The assessed value of the club’s property and equipment is approximately $629,000, the Daily News reported. The auction sale included everything—real estate, personal property, foodservice equipment, mowing equipment, golf carts, tractor, grounds maintenance equipment, golf simulators and golf rental equipment.

The course was designed by Bob Phillips and consists of two adjoining land parcels with a revenue-producing cellphone tower lease on one, the Daily News reported.

The back nine consists of 91.5 acres and was owned by the bank, while the front nine, consisting of more than 65 acres, is on leased land owned by the Henry Wiswell trust.

Representatives of the Wiswells were in attendance at the auction, the Daily News reported. The 20-year lease has 14 years remaining and two five-year renewals, and the family may be interested in selling at some point, auctioneer Stef Keenan said at the beginning of the auction.

As part of the sale, Morgan will be responsible for $6,091 in back taxes owed to the town, Keenan said.

Dan Grover, one of the local people who owned the financially troubled golf course, said he was disappointed that he would no longer be a part of the club, the Daily News reported. Barbara Bagley was the major owner and Phillips, Louis Daigle and Grover were minor owners.

After the sale, Morgan handed out beers to those who stuck around, including Grover, the Daily News reported.

“She got a good deal—about half price,” Grover said. “I’m sad to see it go. With my health the way it is, it’s hard to be active [and] keeping it going.”

He was referring to injuries suffered in a 2009 motorcycle accident, the Daily News reported.

The club’s former operations manager Tom Bryant, who is married to Bagley and was an investor, gave Morgan and her partner, Hollie Arsenault, the keys to the property and its facilities. By then, Morgan, who said she is originally from Portland, Maine, had made a few tentative decisions, the Daily News reported.

“We hope to open the golf course,” she said.

Bryant, the former manager, suggested she act quickly to get things started, and then asked if Morgan would honor the 2016 memberships that were pre-sold last year. “I have about 40 people who paid through the year,” Bryant told her.

“I will honor it, if we continue the course,” Morgan answered.