Touchstone Golf has taken over day-to-day operations of the Nashport, Ohio property for new owner Four Virtues, but has kept the club’s original General Manager, Superintendent, Director of Events, and Executive Chef in place. In the meantime, the club will continue to operate under its current name, but will likely change it in 2015.
When golfers arrive at the Longaberger Golf Club in Nashport, Ohio this spring, they’ll notice improvements to the course and the clubhouse while under new management, but some familiar faces will remain, the Newark (Ohio) Advocate reported.
Although Touchstone Golf will be managing the day-to-day operations of the course for its new owner, Four Virtues Inc., its local senior staff members are staying on-board, with General Manager Danny Ackerman, Superintendent Mark Rawlings, Director of Events Melody Sommer, and Executive Chef Jeremy Brun continuing their work at the club, Four Virtues President Thomas Hwang wrote in a news release Friday.
“Frankly, I think we have an unbeatable team here, and as a graduate of Ohio State and a long-time resident of Ohio, I am proud to continue with local ownership of this course,” Hwang wrote.
The golf club, which opened in 1999, was put up for sale in August 2013 with a sale price of $5.4 million. The course also was listed for sale about three years before that, the Advocate reported.
The course was designed by renowned golf course architect Arthur Hills. The Longaberger Co. gave up management of the course in 2008 to Billy Casper Golf. Four Virtues, a for-profit corporation based in Waverly, purchased the course in December 2013 for more than $4 million, the Advocate reported.
“(Hwang) is a native Ohioan and a very big golfer,” Steve Harker, president and CEO of Touchstone Golf, said. “He saw this as an opportunity to put his passion together with his business acumen to do something special for the community.”
Guests also will be able to enjoy the golf club’s restaurant and event facilities, but they will see some updates and improvements, Harker said. “We’ll have some much needed new equipment. It was an advantage to us that the sale occurred during the winter. It helped us to work on things while people weren’t playing and get ready for the golf season.”
Under the terms of the sale, Four Virtues has the right to continue using the name Longaberger Golf Club for a period of time, but the course’s name likely will change sometime during the 2015 season, Harker said.
The course will continue to host tournaments and golf outings, and provide practice times for local high school golf teams. Touchstone Golf has a foundation dedicated to helping high school golf teams. The organization will reach out to local high school golfers to see how it can help their efforts, the Advocate reported.
“We know that it will continue to be an outstanding, award-winning course for many years to come, as it has been in the past,” Longaberger Co. spokesman Russell Mack wrote to the Advocate in an email.
Touchstone Golf manages golf courses around the country and will use its expertise to grow the golf course’s business, Harker told the Advocate.
“The focus now is all on taking care of our golfing public and also our members and our dining guests,” Harker said. “Our focus is singular—it’s how to make Longaberger better, grow the business.”
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.