Golf Beat: Members' initiation fees appear to be lost after course foreclosure

Craig Prim paid a $60,000 initiation fee to become a member of Winchester Country Club a little more than five years ago.

After Wachovia Bank foreclosed in late May on debt involving the Meadow Vista golf course, clubhouse and 136 undeveloped lots, Prim became a former member. And not by choice.

Prim is now a passholder. He earns that title each month by paying $600 for unlimited golf, cart, range and fitness center privileges. Anyone paying $600 a month can attain passholder status.

As for Prim's $60,000?

"It all depends on who buys (the course) and how they view the world," he said.

Prim was among 200 Winchester members who paid between $25,000 and $85,000 for equity memberships that ceased to exist when Wachovia took over from developer C.C. Myers. About 100 are paying the $600 passholder rate, said Prim, an advisory committee member to a club that no longer exists.

The committee continues to meet and act as a liaison to former members. As many as 10 buyers have expressed interest in the lots and the course, Prim said. The new owner's philosophy will be key to the future of the former members.

"There's reason to believe a buyer would not want to pass us over, grandfather us in to some capacity," Prim said.

The best-case scenario for former members: An experienced golf course developer buys the real estate, reinstates the members and builds up the country club.

The worst-case scenario: Winchester becomes a public course – unlikely because the value of the undeveloped lots is much higher adjacent to a private club.

A realistic scenario: A buyer interested in having a high-end private club and a foundation of members willing to pay more than $600 in monthly dues asks for another small initiation fee with the promise of a return of some lost equity over time.

As much as Prim, who lives on the course, loves Winchester, he won't write another check for $60,000. Neither will the majority of his fellow former members, he said.

In the meantime, Winchester, notorious for its exclusivity since its 2000 opening while permitting one public foursome each Wednesday and Thursday at a cost of $250 per player, has accepted public play since the middle of June.

Aside from monthly passholders who get premium tee times, daily fees are $105 weekdays (after 11 a.m.) and $125 weekends (after noon). The cost drops to $75 weekdays and $95 weekends after 2 p.m. All rates include a cart.

"We're focusing on keeping the course in great shape, getting some golfers up here to justify keeping it going in the interim," said Dylan Hills, the head pro since April.

Hinting at July specials, Hills said to call the golf shop at (530) 878-3001 for possible deeper discounts.

Kim's big adventure

There's reality television, and there's reality.

Kim Welch, the winner of the Golf Channel's "Big Break: Ka'anapali" series as revealed in Tuesday night's finale, was in Connecticut on Wednesday afternoon after taking a red-eye flight not long after watching the show in Sacramento with friends and family.

The prizes she earned for winning "Big Break" – a new car, $10,000 in cash and entry fees into next year's LPGA Futures Tour tournaments among them – are nice. The fact remains she's 11th on the Futures Tour money list, and the top five at season's end earn LPGA playing privileges for 2009.

The Futures Tour's 11th event in its 18-event 2008 season starts Friday in Bloomfield, Conn. Welch's goal is to make the top five and save the Golf Channel the weekly $500 entry fee next year.

"I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I saved them a little money," the Roseville resident said, surprisingly not sounding tired.

Welch, 25, was a poised and polished local ambassador during the show's 12-episode run. She received 60 congratulatory text messages, she said, and more e-mails than she had time to read in the hours after her win was made public.

The thing that surprised her most about seeing herself on TV?

"Nobody ever told me I had these small, Asian eyes," said Welch, whose mother, Kazuko, is Japanese. Her father, Pete, is Irish and German.

About the writer:

• Call The Bee's Steve Pajak, (916) 326-5526.