By SCOTT HAMILTON
Senior Writer
A deal that seemed as good as dead was revived June 27 when iconic billionaire Donald Trump signed a letter of intent that would allow him to acquire Running Horse Golf and Country Club in Fresno, Calif., with the hopes of bringing a PGA Tour tournament to the course.
Al Berryman, an attorney for the Fresno-based law firm of Baker, Manock and Jensen that represents Trump, said June 27 the terms of the deal are for Trump to pay $25 million in advance, plus an additional $15 million from future profits. Berryman said a purchase and sale agreement is being drawn up, with a July 2 completion deadline. After a final agreement is reached, Running Horse’s attorneys will schedule a hearing in front of a federal bankruptcy judge to have it approved.
Trump told Golfweek June 14 that he had increased his initial offer to purchase the troubled golf and residential development through U.S. bankruptcy court from $10 million to $25 million, with his primary goal being a PGA Tour stop as soon as 2008. But Mick Evans, who purchased the 420-acre property earlier this year from original developer Tom O’Meara, turned down Trump’s offer late last week. Negotiations resumed, however, resulting in Wednesday’s accord.
“We anticipate a very expeditious hearing,” Michael Cohen, Trump’s New York City-based attorney, said June 27 as he was preparing to travel to Fresno to oversee the proceedings. “Mr. Trump has already begun to put the process in motion to create what will be one of the great golf courses in California.”
The property was to be the site of a PGA Tour event this October. But those plans faltered when work on Running Horse was halted last year because of financial problems, as well as the inability to land a title sponsor for the event. Evans filed bankruptcy in April, with the project’s debt totaling an estimated $65 million. To compound matters, it was revealed last month that the club didn’t even own enough land to finish the Jack Nicklaus-designed course, of which only two holes and the driving range have been completed.
The Tour investigated other options to keep the Oct. 25-28 event in the Fresno area before giving those dates on the schedule to the Ginn Classic at Tesoro, a Ginn Resorts community in Port St. Lucie, Fla. (
Golfweek, June 16). The $4.5 million Ginn event is the next-to-last event during the Tour’s fall finish.
Both Trump and Bob Combs, the Tour’s senior vice president for public relations and communications, told Golfweek earlier this month that initial discussions have been held regarding a possible event at a completed Running Horse. Both said that nothing definitive was outlined and any further talks would have to wait until ownership of Running Horse has been settled. Combs did say the Tour still wants to place an event in Fresno and that an eighth tournament could conceivably be added to the fall schedule beginning next year.
Cohen indicated Wednesday that Trump wanted to make it difficult for the Tour to say no to his hosting an event.
“Mr. Trump’s goal is to move this project as quickly as possible so as not to interfere with the Tour’s plan,” Cohen said. “He’s a man with a vision right now. He’s already in his mind mapped the course for PGA Tour standards. He’s calculated property locations, the clubhouse, the cart paths, you name it. He’s already calculated what he anticipates the final project to look like, and what he’s doing now is executing on it.”
• • •
Scott Hamilton is a
Golfweek business writer. To reach him e-mail
shamilton@golfweek.com.
Posted: 6/27/2007
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