Sun News - The theme park formerly known as Freestyle Music Park might be back in business in time for summer 2012. FPI US LLC, the mortgage holder of the former park that has been closed for two years, bought the property out of foreclosure this week with a goal of reopening the theme park in Fantasy Harbour in time for next summer, its attorneys said Wednesday. “There’s a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel,” said David Slough, an attorney for FPI US. Elected leaders and business owners near the park heralded the news Wednesday, saying it could help rejuvenate an area that desperately needs it. “Any time you can take something that is dead and you can bring some life to it, it is good,” said Horry County Councilman Gary Loftus, whose district includes the theme park area. FPI US is looking for either a partner to manage and operate the park or a buyer who can purchase the park and reopen it, Slough said. Talks are in the early stages, so it’s not clear exactly when the park would open, whether it would still be called Freestyle or whether it would create a new theme. “They hope it reopens and it’s a big success,” said Franklin Daniels, an attorney for FPI US. “They don’t want to see it be a vacant theme park. They are not willing to just let it go.”
FPI US LLC, which had foreclosed on former park operators FPI MB Entertainment LLC a year ago, bought the property at the Horry County foreclosure auction Monday through a “credit bid” of $7 million. That means FPI US gets the property but doesn’t pay that amount because it’s already owed more than that by the former park operators. The total debt was $34 million, according to court records. Other businesses that were still owed money by Freestyle are out of luck. FPI US won the auction over one other bidder, Alton Swann, a real estate professional in Myrtle Beach who said during a brief telephone conversation Wednesday that he had been working on a plan to bring somebody in to take over the park. “I’d just like to see something happen to it,” he said. “It’s a shame to see it go to waste.” The 50-acre theme park has sat idle for about two years, a far cry from the hoopla that marked its first and second openings during a two-year period. The theme park, which was built for $400 million, originally was branded as Hard Rock Park and debuted in 2008. It filed for bankruptcy protection after a slow first season.
The park’s second run started early the following year when a group of investors bought it out of bankruptcy for $25 million in February 2009 and reopened it as Freestyle Music Park a few months later. It also fell into financial troubles after just one summer - a season where tourism statewide took a hit because of the lagging economy that kept many people from traveling or prompted them to cut back on their spending if they did go on vacation. The park has been closed since, riding a wave of cases in court. With the litigation behind it, the park can move forward, Daniels said. FPI plans to look at what went wrong the first two times the park operated, identify what needs to happen to make the park a success and find a buyer or good partner to manage the park, Daniels said. That means the theme, marketing and ticket prices – which some critics said were too high, especially during the tough economy – all will be reviewed, he said. Tickets for admission to Freestyle started at about $40 for adults and about $30 for children, though the park dropped them later in the summer 2009 to less than $20 for special promotions.
“Many things in the past have to be done differently,” Daniels said. “They’ve learned a lot of hard lessons, lost a lot of money. But they are committed to it.” Some business owners in the Fantasy Harbour area, off U.S. 501 at the Intracoastal Waterway, said a revived theme park could be the first step in getting the area back to where it should be. A re-opened theme park could bring more people to the area and make it look better, said Robbie Love, owner of The X Sports Center off George Bishop Parkway near the park. "Definitely, that’s a boost,” he said. “That should be a good shot in the arm for the area.” Having the park reopen might not translate into more business at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center on Fantasy Harbour Boulevard, but it would help the look of the area, said Lori Posma, the hotel’s sales director. “That would be great,” she said. “Just the perception of the area - everybody says it looks so decrepit over here...Any action over here would be fabulous.” During the past two years, theme park operators and others have stopped by the park interested in buying some of the rides, but the investors didn’t want to sell off the park piece by piece, still optimistic that the theme park could eventually work in Myrtle Beach, Daniels said. A small crew has continued to work at the park, including an engineer who regularly runs the rides to keep them in shape, Daniels said.
“You start selling off the rides, you destroy the value of the theme park,” he said. “They truly are committed. They want to see it reopen. They want to see it work.” But they’ve learned lessons from the park’s back-to-back failures, Daniels said. Loftus said a theme park can work in the Myrtle Beach area if it’s done right. "There were many issues that kind of led to the demise of the first two. Obviously, there were a heckuva lot more that went wrong than right,” Loftus said. “Done correctly, and with the right marketing, it should have a chance.” One culprit that hampered the park’s second run was the Great Recession, which led to an 8 percent drop in tourism in South Carolina in 2009, according to figures released this week by the S.C. Parks, Recreation and Tourism department. Tourism throughout the state generated $14 billion in 2009, down about $1 billion from the previous year. Tourism officials have said the industry has picked up since then. FPI’s talks with potential managers or buyers are in the early stages, and it’s unclear when FPI would announce details of a reopening. It probably would take between six and nine months to adequately prepare the park and promote it, though Freestyle owners did it in three months after they bought the park out of bankruptcy. “There’s no timeframe,” Daniels said. “They are working hard.” Posma of the Clarion hotel, like Loftus, said a theme park could be successful here. “If they take input they have learned and apply it, commit to it, I think they can make it work,” she said. “I’m hoping for the best.”
Wednesday
Merger to create Myrtle Beach Golf Goliath
Sun News - The two largest golf course ownership and management companies on the Grand Strand are merging, creating one of the 15 largest course management companies in the nation and a juggernaut in the area golf market. Burroughs & Chapin Golf Management and Myrtle Beach National Company have signed a letter of intent to combine their golf assets and become equal partners in a new company that has yet to be named. Myrtle Beach National currently owns 10 of the 14 courses it manages, while B&C Golf Management, a subsidiary of Burroughs & Chapin Company Inc., owns five of the 10 courses it manages. “We believe with the strength of this new venture that represents the best of both companies, it will give us some growth opportunities and give us a greater opportunity to get the message out about the golf offerings Myrtle Beach has,” said Jim Apple, B&C president and chief executive officer. MBN Chief Executive Officer Matthew Brittain said due diligence still has to be done and the merger may not be consummated for “a couple months.” Though both companies own other entities in the golf industry, including hotels and golf package companies, the merger only involves courses.
The Members Club at Grande Dunes, the only private club owned by either company, will continue to be owned by Burroughs & Chapin. Apple said initial plans call for the new company to manage the six-year-old layout so it is involved in the 24-course merger. The merger accounts for 23 of the approximate 90 public courses stretching the coastline from Andrews to Southport, N.C., and they are at 20 facilities, with Myrtle Beach National Golf Club, Myrtlewood Golf Club and Grande Dunes featuring multiple courses. In addition, three of Myrtle Beach National’s courses are 27 holes. “We do some things well and they do some things well and we’ll pick the best practices of both companies,” Brittain said. According to a Golf Inc. magazine study of golf course management companies, the new company will be positioned at No. 15 nationally and No. 19 internationally. The other top-15 U.S. companies in the market are No. 9 Arnold Palmer Golf Management, which owns and operates five former Legends Group courses, and No. 1 Troon Golf, which operates four courses at St. James Plantation in Southport. N.C. The second largest golf course management company on the Strand is Signature Golf Group with six 18-hole Strand courses and nine total courses, so the new company will dwarf its competitors within the market. “It’s a very powerful connection, no doubt about that,” said Tim Tilma, general manager of the 27-hole stand-alone Sandpiper Bay Golf Club in Sunset Beach, N.C., which is a marketing partner with MBN and does business with both companies in lodging and golf packages. “It creates a powerful synergy between those two companies, and let’s see where it takes us.”
Combining the courses with the lodging and package businesses MBN and B&C are involved with, the new company will have the ability to influence a large portion of the golf market. “I hope our relationship with Myrtle Beach National and the volume of business we do with them doesn’t change, but only time will tell,” said Classic Golf Group general manager Tommy Smothers, whose company manages four Strand courses.
All 24 courses in the merger are on the Strand – only Farmstead Golf Links, with holes on both sides of the Carolinas border, is in North Carolina – but the new company may expand outside the area. “It doesn’t have to be limited to Myrtle Beach,” Brittain said. “I think we’re looking for opportunities outside the market.” The executive hierarchy and number of employees in the company have yet to be established. “I think we’re going to identify the positions and fill them,” Brittain said. Brittain and Apple said they believe the merger will benefit the market, because without each other to compete against, the new company is more likely to market the destination rather than engage in price wars in local media. “We do think it’s good for Myrtle Beach and not just for us,” Brittain said. “It’s two companies that believe in advertising and advertising out of the market. We believe Myrtle Beach golf is about choice. … “I think we’re taking two companies out of fighting for the local and making them more marketing oriented.” The merger has the potential to create price stability in a market that has dropped prices nearly across the board since Arnold Palmer Golf Management decreased prices considerably at the properties it took over a couple of years ago. "For a group of properties of that size and importance in the community, if [B&C is] looking for a buyer or merger, what better than to do it with a company with a long-term vested interest in the community,” said Bill Golden, president of marketing cooperative Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday. “With that comes stability and commitment. … “For the smaller guy – the stand-alone company and smaller management company – it’s competitive regardless. It’s already hard for the small guy and hard for everybody. We have to focus on getting golfers to Myrtle Beach.”
•Burroughs & Chapin courses
Owned and managed
Myrtlewood PineHills
Myrtlewood Palmetto
Pine Lakes Country Club
Grande Dunes Resort Course
Members Club at Grande Dunes (private)
Managed
Tidewater Plantation & Golf
River Hills Golf & Country Club
Arcadian Shores Golf Club
Farmstead Golf Links
Meadowlands Golf Club
Myrtle Beach National courses
Owned and managed
MBN King’s North
MBN Southcreek
MBN West
Aberdeen Country Club
Long Bay Club
Waterway Hills Golf Club
River Club
Litchfield Country Club
Willbrook Plantation
Pawleys Plantation
Managed
Blackmoor Golf Club
Wild Wing Plantation
Tradition Club
Wachesaw Plantation East
Top 20 golf course management companies
(According to Golf Inc. magazine)
Place; company; headquarters; 18-hole equivalent courses
1; Troon Golf; Scottsdale, Ariz.; 209.5
2; Pacific Golf Management; Tokyo, Japan; 157.5
3; Accordia Golf; Tokyo, Japan; 138
4; Billy Casper Golf; Vienna, Va.; 131
5; ClubCorp; Dallas, Texas; 128
6; American Golf; Santa Monica, Calif.; 109
7; KemperSports; Northbrook, Ill.; 107
8; Eagle Golf; Dallas, Texas; 77
9; Arnold Palmer Golf Management; Addison, Texas; 65
10; Marriott Golf; Orlando, Fla.; 62.5
11; Canongate/Sequoia Golf; Atlanta, Ga.; 58.5
12; ClubLink; Ontario, Canada; 50.5
13; OB Sports; Scottsdale, Ariz.; 42
14; Crown Golf; Binfield, UK; 39
15; Lindsay Management; Fayetteville, Ark.; 32.5
16; SunBelt Golf Corp.; Birmingham, Ala.; 26
16; Heritage Golf Group; San Diego, Calif.; 26
16; Landscapes Golf Group; Lincoln, Neb.; 26
19; B&C-MBN merger; Myrtle Beach; 24
20; Touchstone Golf; Burnet, Texas; 21.5
The Members Club at Grande Dunes, the only private club owned by either company, will continue to be owned by Burroughs & Chapin. Apple said initial plans call for the new company to manage the six-year-old layout so it is involved in the 24-course merger. The merger accounts for 23 of the approximate 90 public courses stretching the coastline from Andrews to Southport, N.C., and they are at 20 facilities, with Myrtle Beach National Golf Club, Myrtlewood Golf Club and Grande Dunes featuring multiple courses. In addition, three of Myrtle Beach National’s courses are 27 holes. “We do some things well and they do some things well and we’ll pick the best practices of both companies,” Brittain said. According to a Golf Inc. magazine study of golf course management companies, the new company will be positioned at No. 15 nationally and No. 19 internationally. The other top-15 U.S. companies in the market are No. 9 Arnold Palmer Golf Management, which owns and operates five former Legends Group courses, and No. 1 Troon Golf, which operates four courses at St. James Plantation in Southport. N.C. The second largest golf course management company on the Strand is Signature Golf Group with six 18-hole Strand courses and nine total courses, so the new company will dwarf its competitors within the market. “It’s a very powerful connection, no doubt about that,” said Tim Tilma, general manager of the 27-hole stand-alone Sandpiper Bay Golf Club in Sunset Beach, N.C., which is a marketing partner with MBN and does business with both companies in lodging and golf packages. “It creates a powerful synergy between those two companies, and let’s see where it takes us.”
Combining the courses with the lodging and package businesses MBN and B&C are involved with, the new company will have the ability to influence a large portion of the golf market. “I hope our relationship with Myrtle Beach National and the volume of business we do with them doesn’t change, but only time will tell,” said Classic Golf Group general manager Tommy Smothers, whose company manages four Strand courses.
All 24 courses in the merger are on the Strand – only Farmstead Golf Links, with holes on both sides of the Carolinas border, is in North Carolina – but the new company may expand outside the area. “It doesn’t have to be limited to Myrtle Beach,” Brittain said. “I think we’re looking for opportunities outside the market.” The executive hierarchy and number of employees in the company have yet to be established. “I think we’re going to identify the positions and fill them,” Brittain said. Brittain and Apple said they believe the merger will benefit the market, because without each other to compete against, the new company is more likely to market the destination rather than engage in price wars in local media. “We do think it’s good for Myrtle Beach and not just for us,” Brittain said. “It’s two companies that believe in advertising and advertising out of the market. We believe Myrtle Beach golf is about choice. … “I think we’re taking two companies out of fighting for the local and making them more marketing oriented.” The merger has the potential to create price stability in a market that has dropped prices nearly across the board since Arnold Palmer Golf Management decreased prices considerably at the properties it took over a couple of years ago. "For a group of properties of that size and importance in the community, if [B&C is] looking for a buyer or merger, what better than to do it with a company with a long-term vested interest in the community,” said Bill Golden, president of marketing cooperative Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday. “With that comes stability and commitment. … “For the smaller guy – the stand-alone company and smaller management company – it’s competitive regardless. It’s already hard for the small guy and hard for everybody. We have to focus on getting golfers to Myrtle Beach.”
•Burroughs & Chapin courses
Owned and managed
Myrtlewood PineHills
Myrtlewood Palmetto
Pine Lakes Country Club
Grande Dunes Resort Course
Members Club at Grande Dunes (private)
Managed
Tidewater Plantation & Golf
River Hills Golf & Country Club
Arcadian Shores Golf Club
Farmstead Golf Links
Meadowlands Golf Club
Myrtle Beach National courses
Owned and managed
MBN King’s North
MBN Southcreek
MBN West
Aberdeen Country Club
Long Bay Club
Waterway Hills Golf Club
River Club
Litchfield Country Club
Willbrook Plantation
Pawleys Plantation
Managed
Blackmoor Golf Club
Wild Wing Plantation
Tradition Club
Wachesaw Plantation East
Top 20 golf course management companies
(According to Golf Inc. magazine)
Place; company; headquarters; 18-hole equivalent courses
1; Troon Golf; Scottsdale, Ariz.; 209.5
2; Pacific Golf Management; Tokyo, Japan; 157.5
3; Accordia Golf; Tokyo, Japan; 138
4; Billy Casper Golf; Vienna, Va.; 131
5; ClubCorp; Dallas, Texas; 128
6; American Golf; Santa Monica, Calif.; 109
7; KemperSports; Northbrook, Ill.; 107
8; Eagle Golf; Dallas, Texas; 77
9; Arnold Palmer Golf Management; Addison, Texas; 65
10; Marriott Golf; Orlando, Fla.; 62.5
11; Canongate/Sequoia Golf; Atlanta, Ga.; 58.5
12; ClubLink; Ontario, Canada; 50.5
13; OB Sports; Scottsdale, Ariz.; 42
14; Crown Golf; Binfield, UK; 39
15; Lindsay Management; Fayetteville, Ark.; 32.5
16; SunBelt Golf Corp.; Birmingham, Ala.; 26
16; Heritage Golf Group; San Diego, Calif.; 26
16; Landscapes Golf Group; Lincoln, Neb.; 26
19; B&C-MBN merger; Myrtle Beach; 24
20; Touchstone Golf; Burnet, Texas; 21.5
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