Originally on the market for $1.3 million, the New Bern, N.C. club was sold to Carlos Melo for $875,000. The whole property is seeing some type of renovation. The clubhouse has been given extra cleaning, roof leaks are being fixed, and renovations to the bar and floors are coming. The golf course has had quadruple fertilization, the driving range will have all new netting, and the club is also looking to get in a new fleet of golf carts.
Carlos Melo purchased River Bend Country Club in New Bern, N.C. for $875,000, the New Bern Sun Journal reported. The country club originally went on the market for $1.3 million in September 2021 and remained open for business until it surprisingly closed earlier this year.
Melo is also the owner of Minnesott Golf & Country Club in Pamlico County, along with Brandywine Bay Golf Club in Carteret County, the Sun Journal reported. In the last several months, he and his staff have started renovating the golf course, pro shop and restaurant area.
Residents have already noticed changes to the club during that time, and within the next several weeks, they will notice a few more—mainly a tented area and a familiar face, the Sun Journal reported. Karl Thurber, former club pro and half-owner from 2017 to 2019, will manage the country club. He has planted roots in River Bend twice, and with the course now under his management, he says he has been working around the clock to get the club reopened.
“We are way ahead of schedule,” Thurber said. “We have a great team and are working at warp speed. We’ve got specific plans, and people want to know when are we going to open, is the pool going to open, what is the membership structure going to be.”
Thurber’s plan is to address questions with a pop-up information session at the country club, the Sun Journal reported. The date of the first session is not scheduled yet, but he plans on having the information readily available for residents as well as applications for employment.
The golf course was built in 1977 and purchased and taken over by Jim Hoffman and Frank Fragale in 1999, the Sun Journal reported. Under their management, the entire property saw more than $1.6 million in repairs.
Owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 3, 2020. Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a company to reorganize its debts while still staying in business, the Sun Journal reported. Bankruptcy is not uncommon in the world of golf course ownership, as financing is the biggest obstacle, according to previous reports by the Sun Journal.
Thurber was not able to say how much money in repairs and renovations the current owner is putting into the property, but told the Sun Journal it is a “tremendous amount.” There is no official opening day scheduled, but Thurber is shooting for September.
“It depends on the growing of the greens, getting our liquor license in place, things like that, so that everyone gets a good feel of what we are doing,” Thurber said. “We want it to be ready for play and not just go in there and open things one at a time.”
The whole property is seeing some type of renovation, plans for renovation, the Sun Journal reported. The clubhouse has been given extra cleaning, roof leaks are being fixed, and renovations to the bar and floors are coming.
Thurber added the golf course has had quadruple fertilization, the driving range will have all new netting, and the country club is also looking to get in a new fleet of golf carts, the Sun Journal reported.
The only membership information that will be available in the near future is a platinum membership which gives a person access to River Bend, Brandywine, and Minnesott country clubs for $275 per month, the Sun Journal reported. Thurber explained his goal is to have that option available soon so that members can start taking advantage while the season is ongoing.
Possibly the second biggest amenity residents are interested in is what will become of the pool, the Sun Journal reported. Estimates to patchwork the pool were obtained by the new owner with a possibility of opening the pool by Memorial Day weekend. However, repair costs delayed that option. Instead, the owner will look to try and open the pool for a month or two in September.
The course remains under construction, and management has asked for patience and understanding, and for people to stay off the course until improvements are completed, the Sun Journal reported.
“I think everyone is ready, I know we are,” added Thurber. “We are just asking everyone to be patient, I’m going to try and be available for questions, be very organized and we’ll get everything answered as quickly as we can”
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.