Michigan Courses For Sale

Some bad news for Michigan golfers:

First, the 101 year old Country Club of Lansing is up for auction after it fell behind on a $6 million mortgage. Club attorney Pat Reid says that he expects the bank to purchase the mortgage back at auction. Then, he said, the club will “have up to a year after that sale in order to keep possession and continue to work towards a solution.”

Read more here.

As with the struggling Washtenaw Country Club, my great fear is that the historic property will be purchased by real estate developers who will put up cheap condos. I still think that the best protection for these hundred-year-old clubs might be to get listed on the state or national historic registers, thereby offering a poison pill to anyone who might think of destroying them.

The Holland Country Club was sold at auction in early April and apparently will not reopen. On a more positive note, the Walnut Hills Country Club in East Lansing recently was sold to a group that apparently intends to keep it open, but “rebrand” it. The Flushing Valley Golf Club was bought by a mortgage company in late 2008, but is open for the 2009 season.

Perhaps more surprisingly, it seems that the Garland Resort in Lewiston, Michigan also is up for sale. Garland is a great property, with FOUR 18 hole courses that are considered among the most beautiful in a state full of beautiful courses. I was unable to find any news stories that indicate whether this sale is made under duress, or whether it’s simply a regular business transaction. However, I’d be surprised if the resort was in any danger of closing.

You can see the real estate listing for Garland here. The photo at top is from Garland.