Oakmont Golf Club enters sale agreement with Oakmont Village Association

Small, bright yellow “YES” signs dot dozens of Oakmont front yards hoping to influence the fate of the two local golf courses, and prevent them from being developed into more homes. Those pleas appear to have been heard.

The Oakmont Golf Club (OGC) and the Oakmont Village Association (OVA) entered “into a joint letter of intent to formally pursue sale and purchase of all OGC properties,” according to a notice sent to members of the golf club on July 19.

The members-owned golf club is made up of two 18-hole courses which rest at the center of Oakmont Village, a 55-and-over community of about 4,700. The golf club and housing development are separate entities; of the golf club’s 260 members, about 210 also live in Oakmont Village.

The golf club went up for sale in March after years of declining membership dragged the club to about $3 million in debt.

Gary Smith, president of the Oakmont Golf Club board of directors, declined to say what the intended purchase offer is, but said it was “close” to the $4.8 million asking price.

“We’re pleased with where we ended up,” he said.

The communication to OGC owner-members said “after evaluating offers and intentions from interested parties, (the board) determined this deal is the one that best meets all the criteria that had been identified by you, through the recent survey process.”

There were “several other interested parties,” Smith said. “There was a fairly significant amount of interest, not all of which turned into offers.”

The club specifically asked the real estate broker they hired to not market the property to developers, and though the broker abided the request, developers still showed interest.

“In spite of that we had eight to 10 parties” in the development industry show interest, which didn’t surprise Smith at all given that the property is “250 acres in the middle of the Valley of the Moon.”

“We didn’t 100 percent rule them out,” he said. But selling to a developer was not what they were trying to do, he said. Most of the other interested parties had some “element for housing in their plans.”

Carol Pence, an Oakmont resident involved with the “Yes-Save our Community” signs, said that the goal of the campaign was to “gain control of the destiny of the 225 acres in the heart of our community.”

“Without knowing the future needs of our community, it is felt that these acres need to be controlled by the residents,” said Pence. “We also know that this will protect the value of our properties.”

The acceptance of the letter of intent is not the end of the game though. The Oakmont Village Association has 20 days to present a purchase and sale agreement and, during that time, the golf club agrees to negotiate “exclusively” with the homeowners association, according to Smith and the notice.

Both the Oakmont Village Association members and current golf club members then need to vote and approve the sale.

Ballots to Oakmont residents went out in early July and are due Aug. 8. A majority in favor is needed for approval. The approval will mean residents will see their monthly dues increase to $98 from $75, with $17 of that $23 bump going to the golf courses.

The golf club members, who are all owner-members of the club, must also vote on the sale, a 60 percent approval is needed from them. Of the some 260 members, 80 percent of them live in Oakmont.

Smith said the club has a long-term debt of about $3 million, which will be paid off with the sale.

The OVA is working with Advance Golf Partners, a golf club management company that leases and operates about a dozen courses and their food and beverage services throughout the United States.

Larry Galloway of Advance Golf Partners said he can’t say for sure when his company will take over because “golf course acquisitions are so complicated.” If he had to guess, though, he thinks it will be about four months.

Galloway said they have plans to update the two clubhouses right away.

“We’re going to spend $1 million right out of the gate,” he said.

Everything at the golf course has become “tired” and “dated” due to lack of money for upkeep and renovation. The Quail Inn Bar and Grill restaurant will be modernized and be “more in line with what people frequent out there,” he said.

The other restaurant will be “more of a pizza place” with “a lot of big TVs” and a sports bar feel that still caters to families and kids. The pizzas will be created by Danny Barbos, the chef Galloway works with for other golf courses in the company’s portfolio.

“He was nominated for the best pizza in New York City. He didn’t win, but he’s the real deal,” Galloway said.

Oakmont residents will all receive “social membership” at the golf course and clubhouses, which will entitle them to discounts – some deep, others not so deep, he said.

Galloway guarantees that residents will have access to the “best ice cream in the country” – which he said comes from the San Francisco and Oakland areas – and he will sell it to them at cost.

“That works out to about $2 a scoop,” he said.

He’s done a lot of research on ice cream and what’s considered best – “you’d be surprised at how many websites there are out there that rate ice cream,” he said – and four brands he’s considering right now are Humphrey Slocombe, Fentons, Mitchells and Gunthers.

He’s not sure what other deals will be available for residents, but he plans on including specials, such as a featured wine of the month, one red and one white, that he’ll sell by the glass or bottle, again at cost.

The idea behind the discounts is to make sure Oakmonters “feel something special” about the clubs and courses, he said.

OGC members will have an opportunity at a later date to “question the buyers and their lessee, Advance Golf Partners,” the July 19 letter to members said.

Contact Anne at anne.ernst@sonoma.news.com.