After the former Royal Tee GC in Cape Coral, Fla., was closed in 2016 by a retiring owner, members of the Cape Royal homeowners’ association convinced residents to raise $1.4 million to buy the club, even though 90% of those living there didn’t play golf. Now renamed Cape Royal GC, the club is “a viable product” again and being studied by operators from throughout the country.
In 2016, Cape Royal Golf Club in Cape Coral, Fla., (called “Royal Tee GC” at the time), was what some people considered an “ok” course, reported WFTX Fox 4 of Cape Coral. Then it closed, as the owner at the time wanted to retire.
“It was sort of a shock how the golf course closed,” Edward Harrington, who was on the community Homeowner’s Association at the time, told WFTX.
Harrington and Donald Wegand, also a former Board member and President of the Homeowner’s Association, then sprung into action to get the course, which was designed by Gordon Lewis and is divided into three nines, as the King, Queen and Prince courses, back open again, WFTX reported.
The two held meetings educating the neighborhood about the pros and cons of a golf course closing down. But that was not that big a concern to many, WFTX reported, because 90% of the people who lived in the community did not play golf.
So the men played the prospect of development of the property as a convincing factor, WFTX reported.
“We didn’t want a developer coming in putting homes or condos down our fairways,” said Edwards.
“Almost 98% of the people here have a golf course or lake view—that could go away in a minute,” added Wegand.
That argument worked and led to that same 90% voting to acquire the golf course property, WFTX reported. In 2017, the Homeowner’s Association bought it for $1.4 million, and it now has a partnership with Green Golf Partners for a 10-year lease to run the property.
Two years later, WFTX reported, Cape Royal is full of life again. The club’s website (www.caperoyalgolfclub.com) now touts “magnificent golf, fantastic food, championship service” and the fact that it has 27 holes now open to the public. And club operators and managers from all over the country are contacting to find out those who revived the club to find out how they pulled it off.
“We came from a closed golf course that was degrading rapidly to one that’s become a viable product here in the local golfing arena,” Wegand told WFTX. “The community was a major reason that the golf course has become a success.”
To see WFTX’s video report on the club, go to https://www.fox4now.com/news/local-news/local-golf-course-thrives-two-years-after-it-was-shut-down
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