HGM Golf Enterprises submitted the winning bid by phone for the Naco, Ariz., property, which includes an 18-hole golf course, 100-space RV park, full service restaurant, and all equipment. The new owner has no plans for major changes.
The historic Turquoise Valley Golf Course in Naco, Ariz., which includes an 18-hole golf course, 100-space RV park, full service restaurant, and all equipment and accoutrements, sold for $600,000 to the highest bidder at a public auction on June 13, the Sierra Vista (Ariz.) Herald reported.
HGM Golf Enterprises of Oro Valley will become the new owner of the golf course and its related businesses once the deal closes in 45 days. Pete Lawson, a Canadian, has owned the course for the almost 18 years. He had been wanting to sell it, General Manager Peter Campbell said, because he had reached his own personal timetable on how long he wanted to own the course, and said that since 9/11, it has become increasingly difficult for a foreigner to own a property and business in the U.S., the Herald reported.
Higgenbotham Auctioneers, of Lakeland, Fla., conducted the auction. The terms were to be 10 percent down, with the balance due in 45 days, and it was to be a cash sale. There was a ten percent buyer’s premium, to pay for the cost of the auction and related advertising and preparations. Ten of the golf carts were being leased and that lease would be assumed by the buyer with a balance of $25,000 due at the end of lease in a few months, or broken down into either 13 or 24 monthly payments, the Herald reported.
Sixty-two golf carts in inventory were being included with the sale. The “soft goods” in the pro shop valued at $11,293 would be sold to the buyer at 20 percent below cost, and $8,600 worth of liquor would be sold at 20 percent discount unless sealed then it would be sold to the new owner at cost, and the inventory would be updated at closing for an accurate count and cost, the Herald reported.
The brochure advertising the auction indicated the facility had an annual income of $1 million, but that figure was actually closer to $900,000, auctioneer Martin Higgenbotham said. The minimum opening bid was $495,000, the Herald reported.
Harold Vaubel, owner of HGM, former golf superintendent and builder of six PGA courses, bid on the golf course by phone, as he had to get on the road by the time the auction had begun. Vaubel has spent 37 years in the golf industry, as a golf course superintendent, project manager, consultant and turf specialist. “I’ve built three golf courses in Arizona and three in California,” Vaubel said.
“My interest in Turquoise Valley is to have it be one of our future two or three golf courses that we own,” Vaubel said. “I put a bid in last Wednesday for a golf course in California.”
As for Turquoise Valley, Vaubel said he doesn’t have any plans to make any major changes at this time, the Herald reported.
“We will be reviewing the RV Park and the golf course,” Vaubel said. “I’ve actually looked at the golf course over the last two and half months and it’s a great facility, with a great friendly staff. It’s a good marriage for our company in our first purchase of a golf course. I’m real excited about working with Pete Campbell and the staff there. They have been known in the past to be a very friendly operation and we look forward to continuing that relationship with the public. We are looking for a long term relationship and to just make it a better facility and enhance it to bring more people to it.”
Vaubel said most of the changes he plans to make will likely be aesthetic. “The RV park is in great shape already,” he said. “We might do some things to make it more attractive.”
On the links, Vaubel said his expertise and years of experience in the industry can help improve the course. “I’ve got 37 years in the industry, so there are some things we can do to make it more player-friendly and more attractive,” Vaubel said. “We can take the golf the course to the next level simply because of our knowledge of golf. Our company will be able to enhance the facility and make it more attractive to the public.”
Vaubel admitted he got quite a deal on the purchase. “In Arizona, with the economy and golf, it’s been kind of sluggish, so golf courses can be purchased for about 50 cents on the dollar. I thought that someone was going to bid up to $1 million,” Vaubel said.
The auction attracted about 20 interested bidders, Martin Higgenbotham said, but auctioneers never know how many actual bidders are going to show up and bid on the day of the auction, the Herald reported.
“We had 20 people call and asked for bid packages,” Charles Higgenbotham said. “There were 14 that we talked to and visited with. That narrowed to eight on Friday. And two showed up today.”
One potential bidder dropped out the day before the auction, he said. Both anticipated that they would have three to four bidders volleying back and forth, the Herald reported.
“I wish it sold for more,” said Campbell, who has spent the past 16 years of his career managing the facility for Lawson. “Peter deserved more and the golf course is worth more. The winning bidder certainly got himself a deal. It’s a fantastic business in a community of amazing people.”
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