(Photo by Kacen Bayless/The Island Packet)
The plea by Andrew Stephens to the charge of operating a retail business without a license comes after the Bluffton, S.C. gated community severed ties with him and his company, Stephens Golf Group, and closed its golf course to the public for several months. The course was re-opened in August under a new operating company, Hallmark Golf Group.
Andrew Stephens, the former operator of Rose Hill Golf Club in Bluffton, S.C. pleaded guilty in magistrate court on August 17th to a charge that he operated the business without a retail license, The Island Packet of Hilton Head, S.C. reported.
A Bluffton magistrate judge imposed a $100 fine on Stephens, according to court filings, The Island Packet reported. The misdemeanor charge—operation of a retail establishment without a license or a suspended license—typically carries up to 30 days in prison and/or a $200 fine.
Stephens declined comment when contacted about his guilty plea and fine by The Island Packet, which came after a roller-coaster spring and summer for Rose Hill, a gated community. The community’s golf course was abruptly closed to the public for months (https://clubandresortbusiness.com/residents-want-answers-as-rose-hill-gc-remains-closed/) before finally reopening under a new operating company in August.
Rose Hill severed ties with Stephens and his company, Stephens Golf Group, in late March due to “issues with the State of South Carolina,” leaving non-residents who paid to play golf at the course with no explanation and no access, The Island Packet reported.
The course’s closure appeared to be tied to Stephens’ August 2020 arrest for operating Rose Hill GC without a retail license, The Island Packet reported. The S.C. Department of Revenue revoked the retail license in September 2018 over $144,000 in unpaid sales taxes, according to Stephens’ arrest warrant.
Stephens was told to close the business and stop making sales, The Island Packet reported, but on June 17, 2020, a revenue department agent found the business open and was able to make a retail purchase.
Stephens was released on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond the same day of his arrest and continued operating Rose Hill until the spring of 2021, The Island Packet reported, when it was then also reported that he Stephens was finalizing a deal to operate Island West Golf Club in Bluffton.
Asked about his arrest at the time, Stephens told The Island Packet he “dropped the ball on a couple of things” and was “in the process of getting that finished up.”
Shortly after news spread about Stephens’ upcoming deal with Island West, Rose Hill shut down its course temporarily, The Island Packet reported. A note handed to potential golfers, signed by Stephens, warned that there were “issues” with the state.
The golf club and Stephens had severed ties and, under the neighborhood’s covenant, Rose Hill could not operate its own course, Rose Hill General Manager Crystal Higginbotham told a reporter at the time.
Rose Hill’s property owners association sent periodic e-mail blasts to residents about the future of the course, but non-resident members were largely left in the dark about its status, golfers previously told The Island Packet.
More than two months after the course shut down, Rose Hill’s Board of Directors hired a new company, Hallmark Golf Group, to operate the course, and Houston, Texas-based Hallmark then reopened the course to the public on August 1st, The Island Packet reported, with the Rose Hill GC website trumpeting “Now under NEW Management!” and promoting a grand re-opening.
Hallmark Golf is in charge of operating two other Bluffton courses, Crescent Pointe and Eagle’s Pointe, as well as The Golf Club at Hilton Head Lakes in Hardeeville, S.C., The Island Packet reported. Hallmark Golf Group I LLC purchased Crescent Pointe and Eagle’s Pointe in 2019, according to Beaufort County (S.C.) property records.
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.