Article Courtesy of The Orlando Sentinel

By Mary Shanklin

Published August 20, 2015

New country club owners hope to reverse trend of golf downsizing

New owners of the West Orange Country Club have a message for nearby residents: Become a member, or the golf course and its long-standing club will become just another housing development.
Longtime country-club member Jim Karr, a land broker, led three other investors last month in buying the financially struggling club for about $1.3 million. Buyers paid off the club's debts and are repainting, re-roofing and tearing out about 30 dead pine trees from the 155 acres.

But there's a catch: If the roster of 100 active and 75 social members doesn't come close to doubling in two years, owners say they'll cease operations, and it will be developed three years after that.

"They need to join the club and support it if they want it to survive and stay there," Karr said. "If all of a sudden they're backing up to a subdivision of new houses, it's because those people around it didn't support it."

With courses closing throughout Central Florida, residents of golf-course communities are likely to watch the West Orange experiment closely. Closings include Rock Springs Ridge in Apopka, Sabal Point in Longwood and Rolling Hills in Altamonte Springs; more are in flux. Nationally, 128 courses closed last year, according to the National Golf Foundation.
Private clubs, such as the West Orange Country Club, have become a rare playing field. Members-only venues constituted 40 percent of the nation's golf courses 30 years ago, but NGF says that share has dropped to 25 percent.

Eyeing a 180-degree vista of Bermuda fairways and greens shaded by longleaf pine and oak trees, West Orange Country Club general manager Nick Slattery said the vision for the club is somewhat of an anomaly, with new owners sprucing up and closing the doors to discounted, online golf-booking services that offer rounds to the public for as little as $15.
The hope is that freshening up the place and limiting access to members will attract new life to a social network that comes with proposed monthly dues ranging from $179 for students to $725 for families.

Orlando attorney Paul Chipok, who represents both golf-course owners and homeowner groups in golf-course communities, said golf-course neighbors sometimes consider pooling their resources to buy a failing golf operation — but the reality is that course maintenance can run about $100,000 monthly, and equipment needs can far surmount that.

He advised residents who live near golf courses to "be prepared" for development of the course and understand what type of construction is currently allowed on the property
Frank Dillon drives his golf cart from his home facing the 11th green at the West Orange Country Club to play his backyard course several times a week. Wearing a T-shirt, flip-flops and shorts, he pulled up to the club's veranda last week and talked about the prospects for the club's survival.

"The key is we hope it doesn't go south," said Dillon, who has been a member there for 43 years.

In the 1990s, the gravel parking lot at West Orange was full with the cars of 340 members. More than 60 applicants were on the waiting list to join. A decade later, parking was no problem as demand waned for the relatively expensive and time-consuming sport. Meanwhile, the dwindling number of Central Florida golfers could play a growing number of more challenging courses — some designed by pro golfers.

West Orange, Karr said, knows its place in the region's golfing universe: "We refer to ourselves as the redneck country club."

In terms of membership diversity, he said the club has had minority members in the past and would welcome them again. Overall, he added, the club's demographics reflect its surroundings. Located between Winter Garden and Windermere, the club sits amid expansive homes in suburban subdivisions.

Whether it will become just another one of those housing developments remains to be seen.

Karr, who has helped assemble large tracts for the Horizon West development and other projects in the region, carefully positions his intentions for the country club where he has celebrated countless family occasions.

"The last thing we want to do is close this place," he said.

But he also adds that the ownership group has to protect its investments in the case the club doesn't attract new members: "We're not Robin Hood: stealing from the rich and giving to the poor."