Island Green Country Club could soon have a new owner through foreclosure

The future of Island Green Country Club remains in limbo, though the closed golf course has been foreclosed upon so it will likely soon have a new owner.

Robert Williamsen of Cornelius, N.C., has foreclosed on the property based on a defaulted loan of $1.45 million made to course owner Ray Watts in November 2015, according to foreclosure documents filed in Horry County.

The course is scheduled for a foreclosure auction sale at 11 a.m. on Feb. 6 at the Horry County Government and Justice Center in Conway. Any bid, including one by the lender, will be subject to an upset bid after 30 days at a subsequent auction.

The golf course has been closed since June when Watts, a real estate developer and owner of Apex Homes who splits time between the areas of Charlotte, N.C., and the Grand Strand, said there was not enough business in the summer to warrant continued operation.

He said he hoped to reopen in the fall, but the course has yet to reopen and is now in disrepair, as there has been no upkeep for several months.

Another course Watts owned and closed in June, Wedgefield Plantation Country Club in Georgetown, also remains closed and has been acquired by its lenders through foreclosure.

Island Green’s golf course and affiliated property, consisting of approximately 123 acres off S.C. 707 in Myrtle Beach, is in one foreclosure case, and its community amenities center is part of a second foreclosure. The course’s zoning allows for housing so a new owner would have options.

In addition to the course and amenities center, Watts has owned Sunnehanna Drive, the entrance road to both the course and center.

He purchased the properties in late December 2012, and his loan from Williamsen in November 2015 was to be paid in full by December 31, 2015, according to court documents. Neither Watts nor Williamsen could be reached this week, and Williamsen’s attorney, Collin Jewell of The Floyd Law Firm in Surfside Beach, said his client has no comment.

The golf course, which had green fees that are among the lowest in the Myrtle Beach market, has been overtaken by weeds, and felled trees and other damage remains from Hurricane Matthew. So a reopening would require a significant initial investment. Other parts of the property are also in need of repair.

Bob Murphy, the immediate past president of the Island Green General Council, a cooperative of 24 homeowner associations that include more than 1,200 properties around the course, said the clubhouse has been broken into and damaged, and windows have been broken in the bag drop shack.

HOAs and individual homeowners have been cutting grass, weeds and bushes on golf course land around their properties, and Murphy said the Island Green General Council collected $25 per homeowner in all but two HOAs to raise $27,400 to repair potholes on Sunnehanna drive for safety reasons and fill in potholes in the amenities center parking lot. A number of individuals contributed extra funds to cover the full cost of repaving.

“We’ve certainly got our hands full,” said Murphy, who added that HOA officials haven’t been able to contact Watts in recent months. “You just can’t go back to the people continually and put money into another guy’s property. It’s really, really sad.”

One pothole that may be described as a sinkhole has yet to be repaired. It is near the entrance to the amenities center and a school bus stop and is approximately 4-by-7 feet wide and a few feet deep. The general counsel has consulted two construction companies regarding its danger and repair costs.

Defendants listed in Williamsen’s foreclosure case, filed in the 15th Judicial Circuit Court of Common Pleas in Horry County, include Watts, his company New Island Green Country Club Inc., and the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce.

Williamsen withdrew a request for a judgment against Watts in Horry County after claiming in court documents he received a judgment for the $1.45 million plus interest and attorney fees in Mecklenburg County, N.C., in December.

Watts’ attorney in Williamsen’s foreclosure action, Melanie Emery of the Emery Law Firm in Myrtle Beach, petitioned the court on Jan. 6 to be removed from the proceedings based on her clients’ failure to pay legal fees, “lack of communication and internal disagreements and disputes.”

Island Green’s amenities center is tied into a foreclosure that includes multiple properties formerly owned by Watts in Horry County.

The lender, Asset-Backed Lending Partners of Westlake Village, Calif., foreclosed on the amenities center, a unit in the Vista Del Mar development in Grande Dunes, and 34 units at the Tullamore Lakes subdivision near Colonial Charters in Longs.

According to Charles Jordan of the Thomas & Brittain Law Firm, who represents Asset-Backed Lending Partners, the total loan amount was $3.3 million and the lender bid $3.9 million at a foreclosure auction in early January. The bid is subject to upset bids for 30 days.

The amenities center, which includes a pool, hot tub and several other amenities, is in receivership and the court has appointed Tradd Management of Myrtle Beach to manage it at least through the foreclosure process.

Murphy said there are eight HOAs that belong to the amenities center, providing $100,000 per year, and other community members can pay inexpensive monthly social membership dues. The center is also in need of some investment and repairs, Murphy said.

“That’s kind of the center point of this whole community,” Murphy said. “We’re really going to be down if we lose that.”

This story was originally published January 26, 2017 at 9:03 PM with the headline "Island Green Country Club could soon have a new owner through foreclosure."