Buried Lede Department: PGA Tour Press Release Division
/From PGATour.com:
TOUR forms alliance with Heritage Golf Group
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The PGA TOUR's Policy Board announced Thursday that the TOUR has formed a strategic alliance with San Diego-based Heritage Golf Group, Inc.
The extent of the alliance remains to be fully defined, but is intended to leverage the assets and strengths of both companies to provide expanded golf experiences for members and guests throughout the TOUR's TPC Network of 22 premier clubs and Heritage Golf Group's portfolio of 16 distinguished private and resort courses located in California, Texas, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. These facilities include Valencia Country Club in Valencia, Calif., host site of the Champions Tour's AT&T Champions Classic; Oyster Reef Golf Club in Hilton Head Island, S.C.; Atlanta National Golf Club and White Columns Country Club in Atlanta, Ga.; and Weston Hills Country Club in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., former site of the PGA TOUR's Honda Classic. In the coming months, both management teams will work together to develop member and guest programs that are mutually beneficial.
So you ask, why announce this? And now a word from our MBA's.
"Our strategic alliance with Heritage Golf Group is a logical extension of our efforts to provide PGA TOUR Experiences for our members and guests," said David Pillsbury, president of PGA TOUR Golf Course Properties. "By harnessing the natural synergies between our companies, we can deliver a better, more valuable golf experience for our collective members and guests. Ultimately, we envision a network of more than 40 affiliated clubs, all of which share similar quality and service standards. This represents a significant step towards making this unprecedented alliance a reality."
Heritage Golf Group President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Husband, a 25-year golf industry veteran who is a current member of the PGA of America and a former PGA TOUR member, added, "On behalf of Heritage Golf Group and our more than 1,000 dedicated ambassadors, we are thrilled to work in collaboration with the PGA TOUR to continue our pursuit of providing members and guests with the best possible club experiences, while at the same time preserving the integrity and rich heritage of the game of golf."
Translation of harnessing those synergies? The PGA Tour is selling Heritage some of it's dogs less wonderful TPC's...
Under the terms of the strategic alliance, in addition to the development of joint programming, the PGA TOUR Policy Board approved the sale of four TPC Network assets to Heritage Golf Group, Inc. Included in the transaction are the sale of TPC Eagle Trace in Coral Springs, Fla.; TPC Michigan in Dearborn, Mich.; TPC Piper Glen in Charlotte, N.C.; and TPC Prestancia in Sarasota, Fla.. Under the terms of the sales transactions, which are expected to close sometime in the second quarter of 2007, the clubs will be managed by Heritage Golf Group, Inc. but will continue to operate under the TPC brand. In addition to their current membership benefits, members of TPCs and Heritage clubs will enjoy additional access privileges that will add value to their memberships.
