The town-owned course in Courtland, Ala. is being listed nationally for $2.3 million. “It will go as a golf course,” said the owner of the real-estate firm selling the 228-acre property with six lakes, an 18-hole course and clubhouse. The town is selling the course because it is no longer receiving annual bond payments from International Paper.
The town-owned Valley Landing Golf Course of Courtland, Ala. is officially on the market, the Decatur (Ala.) Daily reported.
A real estate company is listing the 228-acre, 18-hole course with six lakes for $2.3 million, the Daily reported. A clubhouse is included.
“We’ll have it listed nationally,” said Jeff Parker, whose company, Parker Real Estate, is selling the golf course. “It will go as a golf course.”
At a January Town Council meeting, Courtland Mayor Clarence Logston said the earlier-than-expected loss of International Paper’s $771,000 annual bond payment to the town is forcing Courtland to sell the course to get rid of its debt, the Daily reported.
Logston said the town, which is part of the Decatur, Ala. metropolitan area, is paying $12,000 a month and owes about $1.4 million to a bond company in New York on the course that it opened in 2001, the Daily reported. The town was not expecting the International Paper bond money to stop coming for about three more years.
The course’s equipment, such as mowers, are not included in the price, but that’s negotiable, Parker said. He added that he doesn’t see Courtland’s status as a dry municipality being a deterrent to potential buyers, the Daily reported.
Logston said Town Council members are helping to keep the course open by volunteering their time and talent, the Daily reported. The number of paid golf course employees has been cut from 10 to five, he said.
“We’re doing whatever we can to help out,” the mayor said. “We’re cutting the grass. We’ve been busy repairing whatever needs fixing out there. We’re sweeping floors. Whatever it takes.”
Courtland’s town attorney, Richard Thompson III, and Logston said they haven’t crunched the numbers to see if there’s been a noticeable surge in Valley Landing’s business since the closures of other courses in the Decatur area— Cedar Ridge Golf Course, which closed in 2014, and Decatur Country Club, which this year decided to become a social-only club (http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2017/04/decatur-ala-cc-close-golf-course-become-social-facility/) and then sold its golf course to a pest-control company ( http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2017/05/decatur-ala-cc-become-corporate-headquarters/).
Last week, Valley Landing cut its weekday price for an 18-hole green fee with cart from $30 to $25, Mayor Logston told the Daily.
Thompson, who lives in Courtland, said he is assisting wherever he can to help the town survive.
“I do some things for free,” he said. “I charge them half my hourly rate. I do some things pro bono.
“Everybody I’ve talked to is concerned about our future,” Thompson added. “I can’t do everything for free. If I was having a tough time financially, I would hope somebody would do that for me.”
Mayor Logston said some town employees have seen their salaries trimmed since January, but reiterated the town isn’t going away. “We’ll get through it,” he said.
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