The Board of the 120-year-old club has reportedly decided to sell to the Raleigh, N.C, operator, with approval sought from the membership at the annual meeting on November 19.
The 120-year-old Country Club of Asheville (N.C.) soon could be under new ownership by McConnell Golf, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported.
Club President Ralph Damato said on November 7 that members would vote at the annual meeting on November 19 on whether to approve a sale, the Citizen-Times reported.
“The current facility is getting old,” Damato said. “It’s in need of some improvements and upgrades.”
Board members began discussing options in early June, Damato said, and issued a request for proposals in July.
“We were looking for someone willing to make a significant infusion of cash into the clubhouse and golf course to do renovations,” Damato said.
The Board made its decision at the end of July, Damato said, and John McConnell, President and owner of Raleigh (N.C.)-based McConnell Golf, emerged as the top choice, the Citizen-Times reported. McConnell recently expanded its portfolio of properties, all of which are located in the Carolinas, to nine with its acquisition of Brook Valley Country Club (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2014/10/03/clubs-sold-mcconnell-golf-buys-brook-valley-cc-hoakalei-cc-sold-japanese-group/)
During a phone interview on November 7 with the Citizen-Times, McConnell declined to comment on buying The Country Club of Asheville, saying any input would be premature. “It’s up to the members,” McConnell said.
Damato said he could not release the proposed sale price, but did say that the entirety of the club and its facilities are included in the potential purchase by McConnell, the Citizen-Times reported. The club would remain private, he added.
“If the sale goes forward, it would contractually have to remain a golf course for a minimum of 20 years,” Damato said.
For the 10 years following that period, the grounds would be designated as “recreational,” he added, “which is pretty much a golf course — it’s not like someone’s going to come in and build houses.”
Though McConnell has built cottages on its other properties in which guests of members may stay, Damato told the Citizen-Times that the company has “no immediate intention” of doing that at the Asheville club.
Damato noted that some opponents of the sale were using “scare tactics, for whatever reason,” by voicing concerns over cottage-building on the Asheville grounds.
The President also responded to some sale opponents’ worries that the Asheville club would be flooded with members of McConnell Golf who would be allowed to play there through reciprocal agreements, the Citizen-Times reported.
Each year, McConnell Golf members may play up to 12 times at the company’s other clubs, Damato said. The president specified that did not mean members could play Asheville 12 times annually.
And, “tee times are controlled by our local pro shop,” he added. Damato noted that the Asheville club also has reciprocal relationships and accommodating those people “is never an issue.”
The Country Club of Asheville currently has 619 members, the Citizen-Times reported, who use an 18-hole Donald Ross championship golf course and 10 tennis courts — eight outdoor clay courts and two indoor courts — an Olympic-size swimming pool, a fitness center and a 35,000-square-foot clubhouse, according to the club’s website.
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