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August 13, 2004
Willow Creek sale hits snagBUT ANOTHER PLAYER WAITS IN THE WINGS TO BUY COURSE
By DON McDERMOTT
"It's true that the investment group headed by Tiger Bill Holden couldn't get the financing," Frank Cox, Willow Creek's general manager and director of golf, said Monday. "Supposedly, one of the investors suffered a death in the family and he had to withdraw. "But we have other people who are offering a deal," said Cox, who is playing in the New Mexico Senior Open at Espanola, N.M., near Santa Fe. "The deal is about more than the golf course; there is property where 180 townhouses and from 15 to 20 single-family lots are available." Holden, whose nickname is Tiger, was at the Inferno played at Willow Creek on the Fourth of July and indicated that completion of the deal was imminent. "But a couple of weeks ago, the mother of one of the investors had a massive heart attack and died, and two weeks before that, he had suffered a stroke himself," said Holden, who listed himself as the president and chief executive officer of UB Devco Developers Inc. "As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, we were out, but the current group of buyers have two weeks to finalize escrow, so we will have to wait and see what happens," said Holden, still hopeful the purchase of Willow Creek will include him. Holden indicated at the Inferno Open held July 4 that UB Enterprises Inc., with Arturo Marquez, and UB Devco Realty Group, UC, were involved. Debra Strickland was the broker, said Holden. Holden was by his phone Monday, awaiting calls from potential investors to save $720,000 he already had put into the project, "and I need another $250,000 in an hour to save that investment and get a 30-day extension on the deal," said Holden. He received the call from the Pahrump Valley Times at 3 p.m. PDT. Starting in late June, reports circulating among people in the Pahrump Valley golf community indicated that Willow Creek, once it was sold, would be closed temporarily, while several projects were completed. The work would include remodeling and expanding the clubhouse, renovating the 7,100-yard course, and completion of other construction projects on the property. There were additional discussions regarding turning a portion of the clubhouse into a fine-dining restaurant open to the public, a seven-story hotel and other amenities. It was stated the initial buyer had planned to purchase the town a ladder truck and an ambulance to offset the impact of the hotel on an already understaffed and under-equipped fire and rescue service in Pahrump. The Inferno, a tournament played for the benefit of junior golf, was to be the final event staged on the course before it was closed. Holden said that the course would remain open until the sale was confirmed. The deadline for such confirmation was Aug. 5, Holden said Monday. The Pahrump Valley has three other golf complexes. Desert Greens is a pitch-and-putt course on Wilson Road; Mountain Falls, an 18-hole, 7,300-yard PGA-style layout, is off Manse in south Pahrump, and Lakeview Executive is a par 59, 3,600-yard course recently sold to a group of area investors and scheduled to reopen in October Doug McMurdo contributed to this story. |
