Deer Track North Course saga continues

CONWAY -- The drawn-out, complicated saga of the former Deer Track North Course at Deerfield Plantation became more convoluted with last week's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for the property by its owners.

A foreclosure auction sale of the property, which consists of 168.5- and 22-acre tracts of land in the Surfside Beach area, was scheduled for Tuesday in Conway, but it was canceled because of the bankruptcy protection filing.

"Nothing's really changed on our end except we have to protect the property the best way we can, and to protect it we had to put it in reorganization," property co-owner McCray Smith said. "We couldn't allow the property to be sold."

A sale could have led to the reopening of the course, which has been closed nearly five years. Sammy Truett of Surfside Beach and potential partners Dr. Brian Adler and Linwood Foster planned to bid on the 37-year-old course and want to reopen it.

Court documents show National Bank of South Carolina is owed more than $2.9 million emanating from a $2.6 million loan in 2006.

Western District of North Carolina bankruptcy court judge George R. Hodges will determine the next step for the course. Creditors have until Nov. 1 to file a claim.

"It's come to a screeching halt until we find out what they're going to do and what kind of timeline we have," said Truett, an owner of the Moore and Associates Insurance Agency in Surfside Beach and a competitive amateur golfer. "We're back to sitting and waiting again. We knew going into it this was a possibility."

Smith and partner Jerry Pettus purchased the North Course in March 2006 through their company Deertrack Investors LLC and closed it six months later with intentions of redeveloping the property. But their plans have been held up by lawsuits that are unresolved.

A suit was initially filed by four homeowners in September 2006 and has evolved into a class action suit. The homeowners are arguing that there is an easement on the property preventing redevelopment, evidenced by the fact they paid higher prices to live in a golf course community.

Retired circuit court judge Thomas Cooper, acting as a special referee approved by attorneys in the case, twice ruled in favor of the course owners last year. But an appeal was filed on behalf of the approximately 450 homeowners around the course, and Smith expects the appeal to reach an appellate courtroom within six months.

In 2008, Horry County Court of Common Pleas Judge Larry Hyman initially ruled in a Summary Judgment that the course owners were free to develop the property.

Hyman wrote in his judgment that there was nothing guaranteeing homeowners access to a golf course and "no document on public record expressly restricts the use of the [property] to a golf course and clubhouse." Hyman also found deeds stated "the developer will have no obligation or commitment to maintain the clubhouse ... or golf course for any period of time."

But he rewrote the judgment to allow the case to reach a courtroom, leading to Cooper's rulings and the subsequent appeal.

Deertrack Investors LLC is seeking a monetary award in a countersuit against the four individual homeowners who initiated the suit, the Deerfield homeowners association and Deerfield Plantation Resorts.

The company also has a suit pending against Horry County for a forced rezoning. Smith and Pettus purchased the course for $8 million in March 2006, according to court documents, when it was zoned a high-density R-7. They closed it in September 2006 and presented a proposal to build a housing development. But the zoning was changed primarily to a less dense R-3 by Horry County Council at the behest of homeowners in November 2006.

Smith's request earlier this year to have the property annexed into Surfside Beach from unincorporated Horry County was denied by the city in May.

"[The Chapter 11 filing] will give us time to get through this fiasco of this fraudulent lawsuit against us," Smith said. "We're going to win in the long run, but it's going to be a long run."

If the course is to ever reopen, it will need significant renovations. Had Truett's group purchased the course Tuesday, he was concerned the growing season for Bermudagrass would run out this fall before they could open, forcing them to wait until next year to begin collecting green fees.

"To be honest with you, we're kind of running out of time this year anyway," Truett said. "This might be a good thing. We're still interested. We still think it's a viable product."

Truett's group has proposed the Deerfield Plantation Property Owners Association, which encompasses Phase 1 of Deerfield Plantation and includes homes around the Deer Track North Course, become a silent partner in the golf course.

Truett's group requested the POA offer $500,000 to become a 20-percent partner in the course. It would have no liability for losses, receive 20 percent of any profits and have no managerial input. A special meeting of the POA was called on June 27 to discuss and vote on the proposal, but attendance fell a handful of members shy of a quorum of 212 homeowners, so no vote was taken.

Several homeowners in support of the agreement and several against it spoke during the meeting. The proposed cost would be approximately $240 a year per lot for five years.

"I would much rather see a golf course than a housing development, but I don't want to purchase a golf course," said homeowner Richard Pfeiffer, who was among those who spoke out against the investment. "I think it's a waste of money at this point in time and it's a losing proposition. There's no guarantee being in the golf industry will be successful."

Truett said his group is seeking another investor and the potential role a golf course could play in raising property values and quality of life in Deerfield makes the POA a natural partner. "It would be very hard for us to move forward if they don't partner or if we don't find another partner," Truett said. "Bringing a golf course back is a home run for them as far as property values go. We thought they would like to be a partner, plus it would help us financially."