Hanover GC Sold for $1.4M

Dale Foley, his sons Nick and Ben Foley, and their childhood friend Jake Albritton purchased the 60-year-old Ashland, Va. club, which switched from private to semi-private three years ago in a bid to get back to profitability. The new owners also struck a deal with Mike Hatch, whose Acumen Golf will continue to manage the club for at least the next five years.

Hanover Golf Club in Ashland, Va. has been purchased by Dale Foley, his sons Nick and Ben Foley, and their childhood friend Jake Albritton, Richmond BizSense reported. They paid $1.4 million for the 60-year-old course, which until the sale had been member-owned.

C+RB first reported in December 2021 that the club was listed for sale.

It was previously known as Hanover Country Club, before switching from private to semi-private three years ago in a bid to get back to profitability, BizSense reported. The deal closed about three months after it was listed for sale with Hilda Allen, a golf course broker who has worked the sale of several other local courses over the years.

The new ownership group said last week it wasn’t ready to comment at length about the deal or any plans they might have for the club and course, BizSense reported.

The golf course purchase is the latest venture for Dale Foley, founder and chairman of longtime Hanover County-based Foley Material Handling and Virginia Crane, BizSense reported. He also owns Virginia Motorsports Park, a dragstrip near Petersburg.

Nick and Ben are Dale’s sons, and Albritton is a longtime friend of the family. They all grew up together in the Hanover area, BizSense reported. Ben works on the sales side of Foley Material Handling and Nick also is involved in the family businesses.

Albritton has his own brokerage, Albritton Real Estate Group, which represented the buyers in the acquisition, BizSense reported.

The new owners also struck a deal with Mike Hatch, whose Acumen Golf will continue to manage the club for at least the next five years, BizSense reported. HGC’s members previously hired Acumen in 2014 to get the club out of the red.

Having achieved that goal several years ago, Hatch said he’s pleased that the sale puts the club in the hands of local owners, BizSense reported.

“Having taken the club from operating at a substantial loss to profitable in a couple of years and reinvesting years of neglected capital needs from profit, this is an exciting time for the club to flourish under new local ownership,” Hatch said in a prepared statement.

Added the new ownership group: “We believe this will benefit our current members, as well as continuing to grow our public rounds offered at our semi-private golf course.”

HGC members will continue to have reciprocal membership at Brandermill Country Club and Birkdale Golf Club, which are both owned by Hatch, BizSense reported.

Hatch said Hanover is among many golf courses both locally and elsewhere that continue to benefit from an upswing brought on by the pandemic, BizSense reported.

“Golf is in a good place right now and the clubs I own and operate are all doing well,” Hatch said. “I still consult with a number of other clubs and the conversation has changed from keeping the doors open prior to COVID to more strategic planning and staffing challenges.”

The proceeds of the sale will be dispersed to HGC’s members, BizSense reported. As of December it had 200 golf members and 100 social members while also offering daily fee play to the public.

Hatch previously said rounds at Hanover were up to around 15,000 a year, BizSense reported. The sale is the first for a local golf course since 2019, when The Brookwoods Golf Club in New Kent County changed hands.