October 30, 2014
Bankruptcy court ruling approves of plan and sale of Indianapolis-area club
FISHERS, INDIANA – On October 30, Concert Golf Partners acquired Hawthorns Golf & Country Club, a premier private country club located in Fishers, Indiana, an affluent suburb 20 miles northeast of Indianapolis.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome Hawthorns Golf & Country Club into our boutique collection of upscale private clubs, and to polish all aspects of this wonderful facility to a fine luster,” said Peter Nanula, CEO of Concert Golf. “The Hawthorns has a tremendously engaged membership, and we look forward to collaborating with them on both capital improvements and new services. With the financial uncertainty removed, Hawthorns members will now enjoy a well-capitalized and professionally operated future as one of the finest clubs in Indiana – with reciprocal playing privileges at our other fine clubs.”
Hawthorns Golf & Country Club is the centerpiece of a 1,300-acre master planned community called Hamilton Proper, featuring 19 subdivisions in the most affluent county in the state of Indiana.
The championship golf course, designed by legendary golf course architect Arthur Hills, meanders through 279 acres of woods, lakes, preserved natural area, bird sanctuaries and wetlands and is a participant in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program. The golf course opened for member play in 1994, and has hosted US Open and US Amateur qualifiers, as well as Indiana state championships. The Hawthorns is a family-friendly club with a full range of amenities and activities for member families and their more than 800 children. The club boasts a 50,000 square-foot clubhouse, swim center, six tennis courts, indoor basketball gym and state-of-the-art fitness facilities.
Concert Golf originally bought the mortgage on The Hawthorns from Textron Financial, and then obtained ownership of the Club after the developer filed bankruptcy and the membership voted overwhelmingly in favor of Concert Golf’s reorganization plan in the bankruptcy proceedings. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the Club emerges from bankruptcy debt-free with a new multi-million dollar capital improvement reserve.
With Concert Golf’s acquisition, the Club is now debt-free and there will never be assessments imposed on the membership. Concert Golf is launching over $1 million of capital projects at the Club that were developed in consultation with the membership. The Club has added more than 50 new members during 2014 despite the bankruptcy, and will now be offering new membership and event opportunities.
“It has been a pleasure dealing with a first-class organization like Concert Golf throughout this process to recapitalize our Club,” said Jim Martin, a longtime Club member and former HOA president. “Many of our members were concerned about the future of The Hawthorns, but now that cloud has been lifted with the capital and club-operating expertise of Concert Golf working for us.”