Crown Golf, the UK's largest golf course owner, is putting eight of its golf clubs up for sale.
The company says the decision follows a change of strategy, and that it will concentrate on members' clubs and resorts from now on. Seven of the eight courses are from its pay and play portfolio. The other, Pyrford in Surrey, is a members' club.
The properties for sale are mainly in the London area, and played host to 440,000 rounds of golf in 2009, with a combined turnover of £9.6m and EBITDA of £2.4m. London agency Humberts Leisure, along with DTZ, is handling the sale.
“The Bennelong Group, owner of Crown Golf, remains committed to owning and operating a significant golf business in the UK for many years to come,” said Crown CEO Stephen Lewis. “A portfolio of clubs clustered around London provides a number of key operational benefits. The new owner will inherit a large database of local golfers, which offers many opportunities for growth and commercial development; the ability to offer London-based customers a variety of golfing experiences within the same group; the ability to promote group-wide offers within a relatively small geographic area; and of course the economy of scale, including management across all business aspects. This portfolio of golf properties represents a considerable landholding in well-positioned, mostly urban locations, and provides the purchaser with various opportunities for substantial future gain, subject to planning considerations. There are many exciting opportunities for further development, such as an additional nine hole course at Paultons, or new clubhouse facilities at Orpington.”
The clubs for sale are: Pyrford, a members' club in the south west quadrant of the M25, Traditions Golf Course, adjacent to Pyrford and which shares greenkeeping resources with its neighbour, Paultons Golf Centre, a 27-hole parkland golf club set in the New Forest, close to the M27, Chelsfield Lakes, a 27-hole omplex in north Kent, Addington Court, a 63-hole complex near Croydon in Surrey, Orpington Golf Centre, another of the UK’s largest golf centres with 53 holes, South Essex Golf Centre, a 27 hole complex near Brentwood and Sunbury Golf Centre, a 27-hole complex in southern Middlesex.