Harris Golf, the Bath, Maine-based course developer and club operator, has acquired Wilson Lake Country Club in Wilton, thereby rescuing another classic-but-distressed Maine golf club from the uncertainties of receivership.
The Board of Directors at Wilson Lake Country Club had for several years faced the prospect of dwindling revenues and growing debt. The recent financial turmoil rendered Wilson Lake’s situation even more dire, and so the Board voted to approve the club’s sale to Harris Golf for $249,500. Harris Golf has entered into a purchase and sale agreement and will assume ownership sometime in mid-March, according to Harris Golf Vice President Jason Harris.
“The way we do business, we really consider ownership as a form of stewardship,” Harris explained. “We’ll operate the club as a semi-private facility, servicing both the members and the public. We’re going to return the club to the original vision of [course architect] Wayne Stiles via a low-key form of restoration.”
Wilson Lake’s story, Harris noted, follows that of another Harris Golf holding, Donald Ross-designed Penobscot Valley Country Club (PVCC) in Orono. PVCC had fallen on hard financial times, too, in 2007. Harris Golf purchased the club in November 2007; one full golf season later, the course has undergone a massive restoration and membership has nearly doubled.
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