ES2 Services, which has declared bankruptcy, began managing the now-closed Greensboro, N.C., club under the name Proehlific Club at Forest Oaks in March 2013. The owner of Isabella’s Grill at Forest Oaks, a restaurant that opened at the club last year, found the establishment’s doors chained and locks changed over night.
Members found padlocked doors on April 15 at Forest Oaks Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., after its management company declared bankruptcy, the Greensboro-based News & Record reported.
The club and golf course are closed indefinitely, according to a sign left on a door at the clubhouse, the News & Record reported.
“It’s very upsetting. Nobody saw it coming. We heard rumors that things hadn’t been paid for, but they were just rumors,” said 30-year member Gail Deal. “We’re feeling a lot of pain.”
The club was home to what is now the Wyndham Championship for 31 years until the tournament moved back to Sedgefield Country Club in 2008, the News & Record reported.
A representative for ES2 Services, which manages the country club, declined to comment to the News & Record about the bankruptcy on April 15.
For many members, the loss is monetary as well as sentimental—the club had been running specials where members would get a few extra months free if they paid a year’s dues in full up front. Deal fears that she and her husband will lose about $2,000, the News & Record reported.
“There are going to be a lot of people who are basically out their money,” Deal said. “It’s a sad day.”
Kathy Dudich showed up Tuesday to open her restaurant, Isabella’s Grill at Forest Oaks, to find the doors chained and the locks changed. She had just been inside the day before, the News & Record reported.
“They did it in the middle of the night. Nobody knew,” Dudich said.
The grill had opened in mid-May. Business had taken a while to pick up, Dudich said, but was getting better. Just last week, she hired new employees to work during the summer. Now, she doesn’t know the status of her restaurant or its 10 employees, the News & Record reported.
Further, she doesn’t know the status of the $25,000 deposit that she expected to get back on April 1, nor what becomes of the $41,000 she paid for renovations that she said the company planned to reimburse, the News & Record reported.
“I’m out $61,000 of my own and my husband’s retirement fund,” Dudich said.
ES2 began managing the club under the name Proehlific Club at Forest Oaks in March 2013. Proehlific Park’s attorney, Norman Klick, said the partnership involved naming rights only, the News & Record reported.
“Proehlific Park was never involved in the ownership, management or operations of Forest Oaks,” Klick said. “We merely allowed them to use the name Proehlific.”
A search of the U.S. Middle District Bankruptcy Court filings found no filings by ES2 Services as of 5 p.m. on April 15, the News & Record reported.
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