A report in the Arizona Daily Star details the journeys of the two Tucson golf courses, which were purchased at a foreclosure sale in 2014 and are now getting a second chance.
A report in the Tucson-based Arizona Daily Star details the “to hell and back” journeys of The Golf Club of Vistoso and Arizona National Golf Club, which both debuted in Tucson, Ariz., in 1995.
“If you think Tiger Woods faces a daunting comeback, it’s nothing compared to what Vistoso and Arizona National have overcome,” the Star reported.
Two years ago, a Vistoso member went public with his unhappiness and told the Star the once-grand golf course had become “a goat ranch.” The water had been shut off at both facilities. There was no money for daily maintenance. No money to fertilize grass, or even buy grass seed. You couldn’t even buy a golf ball at Vistoso; vendors would no longer give it credit, the Star reported.
Hundreds of angry members, many of whom had paid for “lifetime memberships,” were left with nothing. The club’s most high-profile tenants, the UA men’s and women’s golf teams, abandoned both facilities, the Star reported.
At a 2014 foreclosure sale, Canadian mortgage firm Romspen bought Vistoso and Arizona National for pennies on the dollar. Romspen immediately spent $50,000 to landscape overgrown desert vegetation at Arizona National, and about $600,000 to acquire new equipment. At Vistoso, 80 new golf carts are on order. Attention to detail has been restored, the Star reported.
Romspen hired OB Sports to operate both courses, as well as two reputable pros: Dennis Palmer at Arizona National and Rich Elias at Vistoso. Palmer and Elias established credibility at Southern Arizona courses that include Starr Pass, the Quarry Pines, the Tubac Golf Resort and Torres Blancas Golf Club, the Star reported.
“The man who built the original Raven at Sabino Springs in 1995, Larry Lippon, came out to Arizona National last month and told me, ‘You’ve got it back very close to the way we originally set it up,’ ” said Palmer. “That told me we’re doing things the right way.”
Neither Vistoso nor Arizona National is in the discount business and doesn’t plan to be. They are upscale courses, and Romspen is spending the money to keep both facilities that way, the Star reported.
“When we took over in November, we didn’t have a computer system, we didn’t even have phones,” said Elias. “People stopped playing here because we only had 40 working golf carts and because the once-high standards of Vistoso were neglected. We’ve come a long way in a few months.”
After years of slippage, Arizona National spent about $75,000 just to get ice machines, refrigerators, air conditioning units and on-course restrooms repaired. At Vistoso, there was no plumbing on the restroom near the No. 14 green. Now the water flows and you can even buy a golf ball at the Vistoso pro shop, the Star reported.
What remains is for the Golf Club of Vistoso and Arizona National to restore their reputations, the Star reported.
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