Four Virtues bought the Nashport, Ohio club in December 2013 and had the right to continue using the original name for two years under the terms of the sale. The new name refers to Plato’s four virtues of prudence, patience, fortitude and justice.
The Longaberger Golf Club in Nashport, Ohio, which opened in 1999, will be known as The Virtues Golf Club, beginning in 2016, the Newark (Ohio) Advocate reported.
Four Virtues, a for-profit corporation based in Waverly, purchased the course from Longaberger Co. in December 2013 for a sale price of more than $4 million. Under terms of the sale, Four Virtues had the right to continue using the name “Longaberger Golf Club” for two years, the Advocate reported.
Danny Ackerman, General Manager of the club for more than four years after working as head pro there more than a decade, said corporation owner Thomas Hwang recently announced the new name, the Advocate reported.
“We knew it was coming and in the last couple months we decided on The Virtues Golf Club,” Ackerman said. “We hope to continue some of the Longaberger traditions.”
Four Virtues takes its name from Plato’s four virtues of prudence, patience, fortitude and justice. “He’d like to see our world be a more virtuous place,” Ackerman said of Hwang.
Hwang has improved on his investment since purchasing the course two years ago, Ackerman said, citing painting the outside of the clubhouse building, installing new carpeting in the ball room, re-sealing the long driveway and parking lot. Four equipment purchases, three large mowers and a sand pro for the bunkers, cost about $170,000, the Advocate reported.
“He’s put money back into it, $800,000 in capital improvements in less than two years,” Ackerman said. “Longaberger wanted to sell for quite awhile, so some capital improvements were overlooked a few years. We brought it back up to the standards we felt we were (in the beginning).”
The Longaberger Co. gave up management of the course in 2008 to Billy Casper Golf, and the course was designed by Arthur Hills. Ackerman said many golfers come from around Ohio to play the course once a year and “feel like they’re treating themselves.”
The cost of playing the course, which peaked at $125 per round about seven years ago, is now $99 a round on weekends in the summer. But, locals get discounts that bring prices down $20 per round. Prices vary based on times of day, week and season, the Advocate reported.
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.