Andy Myers and Philip Kless, two PGA professionals who have been operating the Lyndon Golf Course in Fayetteville, N.Y., for the past five years, submitted the winning bid of $645,000 on January 5. They plan to reopen the 18-hole course under its former name, Sunset Ridge Golf Club.
The Marcellus (N.Y.) Golf Club has been sold at a foreclosure auction to two golf pros who plan to reopen the 18-hole course under its former name, Sunset Ridge Golf Club, the Syracuse, N.Y.-based Syracuse.com reported.
Andy Myers and Philip Kless, two PGA professionals who have been operating the Lyndon Golf Course in Fayetteville, N.Y., for the past five years, submitted the winning bid of $645,000 for the Marcellus course during an auction held January 5. They expect to close on the sale February 15, Syracuse.com reported.
The course will open as usual this spring with no major changes to the course, except for its name, Myers said. The course will be renamed Sunset Ridge Golf Club name because that’s what most people know it as, Syracuse.com reported.
Mark and Karen Clark opened the course in 1998 as the Links at Sunset Ridge. After it ran into financial troubles, Marcellus native D.J. Van Keuren, bought it in 2013. After initially calling it Sunset Ridge Golf Club, he renamed it Marcellus Golf Club in 2015, Syracuse.com reported.
Van Keuren, a real estate professional who lives near Denver, Colo., said the property had about $2 million in debt and had a poor financial accounting system when he bought it. He said he was able to improve its finances and straighten out its books. However, he said its debt load was still unsustainable for its level of golf and food and beverage revenues, Syracuse.com reported.
The club needed to attract more banquets and weddings to boost its food and beverage revenues, Van Keuren said, but that proved difficult for him to do while living in Colorado and outsourcing the job to a couple of local restaurant operators did not work any better, he said. “Food and beverage is where you make your money,” he said.
In the end, he said he decided to let the property go into foreclosure so new owners could start fresh with no debt other than the financing they may need to make the purchase, Syracuse.com reported.
“The foreclosure cleans out all the judgments and liens,” he said.
Myers, 48, and Kless, 27, who are originally from Rochester, are the owners and operators of Kless Myers Golf Management LLC. They are entering their sixth season of operating the 18-hole Lyndon Golf Course, which they lease, Syracuse.com reported.
From 2015 through 2017, they operated three golf courses (Durand Eastman, Churchville and Genesee Valley) owned by Monroe County in the Rochester area. During their three seasons running the courses, revenues increased by more than 30%, according to their website, Syracuse.com reported.
The Marcellus course is the first one they will own. The course is semi-private, meaning it sells memberships but it is also open to non-members. Myers said its membership has dropped from 250 a few years ago to about 150. He said a priority will be to bring those former members back, Syracuse.com reported.
“It’s a great golf course—unique and fun,” he said.
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