Going once ... going twice ...
For the second time in a decade, Auburn Hills Golf Course will be up for auction. The course, restaurant, swimming pool, pro shop and all equipment will be available for purchase at a live auction on March 26 starting at 10 a.m. at the clubhouse.
Bids also will be taken online via simulcast, said Matt Gallimore, with United Country Blue Ridge Land & Auction Co. The company focuses on land, specialty properties and farms.
Gallimore will host an open house at the course on March 12 from 10 a.m. to noon, he said. There is an undisclosed reserve price, and already there has been a lot of interest, he added.
The course is assessed for tax purposes at $1.4 million, according to Montgomery County land records. It’s owned by Fore LLC, the records stated.
The public, 18-hole course sits on about 157 acres between Virginia 8 and Five Points Road in Riner. At last count, it had 280 golf and swimming pool members, according to Jeff Gandee, golf director.
The course is being sold to dissolve the business partnership between co-owners Phillip Nolen and Danny Thompson, according to a fact sheet provided by Gandee.
The course opened in 1999, and for a time sold home lots. All those lots were sold previously, according to the fact sheet, and are not part of the auction.
“We are hoping whoever purchases the club will want to keep it a golf course but there is no guarantee that this will happen,” according to the fact sheet.
Either of the current owners may bid if he chooses, the sheet stated.
This is the second time the course has been on the auction block.
In 2005, the course owners at the time sued the winner of an auction of the property, who did not close the $7 million deal, according to The Roanoke Times archive.
