Investor group takes over LochenHeath Golf Club

LochenHeath, the battered residential and golf course development in Acme Township, just got an early Christmas present. The LochenHeath Golf Club has been purchased by a group of investors – LochenVest LLC – comprised of 11 former members and property owners of LochenHeath.

The course will open as a resort course in Spring 2011, allowing public play while offering membership opportunities, according to Al Ruggirello, a member of LochenVest and chairman of the LochenHeath Homeowners Association. “Our desire is to take it back to a private course, but that’s probably a long ways off,” he says.

Details of the purchase are confidential. The LochenHealth Golf Club and accompanying residential development are located on East Grand Traverse Bay, just north of Grand Traverse Resort and Spa.

A foreclosure sale for parts of LochenHeath, including the golf course, was held November 17. As part of that process, Pinnacle (former owner/developer) lost the land to the lender, R.E. Loans (Wells Fargo), who then sold the golf course to LochenVest.

According to a representative for the lender, another developer is being sought to take over the not-yet-developed land as well as several residential lots that have been approved and laid out.

Members of LochenVest have been working to “keep the course alive” through the negotiation process, says Ruggirello, which has lasted for the better part of the last two and a half years.

The course was closed following the 2007 season after Pinnacle Arizona Development Partners of Scottsdale, Ariz. abandoned the residential development project and golf course. In 2008, the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa operated the golf course as a public facility. The course did not open for the 2009 or 2010 season, although basic maintenance of the grounds was performed and some members were even playing on it this fall.

“It will be in great shape for the opening,” says Ruggirello. He is also excited by the 15-20 jobs the course will provide by getting operations up and running again.

Mike Husby, a Michigan PGA professional, has joined LochenHeath as its general manager. Joe Ettawageshik has returned as greens superintendent, marking his fifth year with the club.

As there has been nothing but bad news surrounding the LochenHeath development for the last couple of years, Ruggirello acknowledges that some good news is certainly refreshing.

“I say, with some trepidation, that it is a good feeling,” he adds. “These people invested not for financial reasons but out of love for the golf course and its potential. Providing an opportunity to play the course again will hopefully revitalize the whole [development’s] concept.”