Florida Golf Course Suffers Shortage Of Green
As a sport, golf can be a lifetime challenge, a source of joy but also a source of frustration and even heartbreak.
Lee Duxstad has found out the same is true for golf as a business venture, even in a state where golf is one of the premier attractions.
The 68-year-old Spring Hill Florida man is the designer and former owner of Rivard Golf & Country Club, a public course off U.S. 41 south of Brooksville Florida that fell into such financial struggles that it was finally foreclosed on in September, leaving Duxstad with nearly $1-million in unpaid loans and civil suits against him. Another hit came last week, when Duxstad was arrested on felony charges of failing to pay more than $30,000 in sales tax.
"It's been a nightmare," Duxstad said Thursday. "I've lost every dime that I had, and every dime I could borrow."
St. Petersburg-based Republic Bank now owns the course and is working to find a buyer, managing the property through a court-appointed receiver for the past seven months. Receiver Peter Bursik's records show financial struggles beyond Florida's normal slow summer season: from Aug. 1 to Oct. 16, the course generated just $19,275 in golf income, not even enough to cover payroll.
Rivard's very existence has been marked by adversity -- its opening was delayed two years by a right-of-way conflict with a railroad company, and it has endured droughts that damaged greens and flooding that temporarily closed seven holes one winter. Months after the course's clubhouse opened in 1999, it suffered $250,000 in damage from a fire the week before Christmas. Duxstad cited all as factors leading to the course's downward spiral.
The real estate around the course has not fared any better. Originally approved for nearly 800 homes, the development has sold about 20 homes in eight years. Although Duxstad was not involved in the development -- the foreclosure was limited to the course itself -- the lack of regular customers didn't help his business.
Duxstad's financial problems start with Republic, which granted the original $850,000 mortgage in 1995 to two companies he headed: Rivard Golf & Country Club and Glen Ayers Inc. The former shares Duxstad's middle name, while the latter refers to the estate of John Harvey Ayers, the original owner of the land and a co-defendant in civil actions because the estate remains on the mortgage for a small amount still owed to it by Duxstad.
Another $250,000 was loaned to the course in 1997 to finance construction of a clubhouse. Republic began foreclosure proceedings in 1998 after three consecutive mortgage payments were not made. But the foreclosure case was dismissed in 1999, and later that year another $110,000 was added to the loan.
Not only did the course default last year by missing multiple payments, but according to the bank, another concern was 'failure to maintain the golf course in a standard required by the industry," thus failing to maintain the property as adequate collateral on the loan.
The Florida golf course was identified by the county as being delinquent on tangible real estate taxes for each of the past two years: $2,809 is owed for 1999 and $1,234 for last year.
Cutting corners to save money took other tolls at Rivard. According to documents filed by Bursik, the course had not insured its fleet of 70 golf carts, which are leased from Yamaha through March 2004, so when 13 were stolen, the course had to cover the loss. Other carts have been found on nearby railroad tracks. And as another sign of financial troubles, the course opted not to take out casualty insurance for the golf carts.
Bursik repeatedly sought additional funds, citing "substantial reduction in rounds of play during the hot and rainy summer months." His initial report told of "little or no equipment sales" and "minimal" sales from food and the driving range. Insurance paid for most of the damage from the clubhouse fire, though enough still has not been renovated that Republic earmarked $38,392 for continued construction on the clubhouse.
Even after the completion of foreclosure, Republic remains in litigation with Duxstad for $596,892, the remaining balance on the mortgage. The two parties were scheduled to meet Nov. 6 for a case management conference with Circuit Judge Richard Tombrink Jr., but the notice mailed to Duxstad's New Port Richey home -- which he lost after foreclosure proceedings last year -- was returned to the sender.
Duxstad is not the only person who has lost money on the course. In addition to Republic Bank, four civil suits have been brought against Duxstad since 2000. Two are from friends who said he did not pay off personal loans in excess of $20,000 and $120,000. A third, filed this summer and seeking $15,000, came from Duxstad's son, Michael, who claimed he had not been paid in 11 months as the course's general manager. Another suit came two weeks ago, when Loan Participant Partners Ltd. filed a suit seeking $214,167 for the unpaid balance of a small-business loan given to the course in 1998.
The Ayers estate stands to lose about $100,000 in unpaid loans from Rivard as a result of the foreclosure. "It's something they basically have to eat," said Charlie Luckie, a Brooksville lawyer representing the estate. "It's money they can't collect, because that corporation is probably worthless now."
When business lagged, the Duxstads apparently sought other sources of revenue at Rivard. Three weeks before the property was put into receivership, Michael Duxstad was cited for selling alcoholic beverages on the premises without a license. Tammy Jo Wieland, 29, of Brooksville, who listed her occupation as a bartender on the citation, sold a beer to a police officer, who found Rivard to have not only cans for sale but also Budweiser on draft.
Charges against Wieland and Duxstad were dismissed after each served 20 hours of community service, with Wieland working two 10-hour shifts with the Hernando County Commission. Her work there was signed off by Barbara Dupre, the county's director of human resources, who shares a house with Michael Duxstad in Spring Hill.
Dupre was again involved with the course in September, when the property was put up for public auction following foreclosure. Republic opened the bidding at $100, but was bid up four times by Dupre, the only other bidder, before Republic finally won the auction for $500,000. The bank was effectively writing a check to itself in acquiring the property, but Dupre's actions forced it to pay $3,500 in additional document stamps because it was officially a sale of property. With Republic officially owning the course, Michael Duxstad was fired later that day.
Michael Johnson, who handled the property for Republic, classified Dupre as an "antagonistic borrower." Dupre declined to comment on the matter beyond saying that she was bidding on behalf of an outside party that was not the Duxstad family.
Michael Duxstad, who has since found employment with the county as a zoning inspector for the past six weeks, filed another lawsuit seeking lost wages Wednesday against the court-appointed receiver, Peter Bursik. The suit alleges that Duxstad received only half of his $600 weekly salary on two occasions in August and September. Bursik's records indicate that Duxstad was paid $3,600 in "travel compensation" in the six weeks before he was fired.
Lee Duxstad's other son, Steven, remains on the course's payroll as superintendent. A summons was sent to the course in January for Steven, seeking more than $10,000 in unpaid credit card bills, and Sears Roebuck and Co. took him to small-claims court in Port Richey in October over another outstanding balance.
With all the financial problems he faces and his only source of income eliminated, Lee Duxstad said many friends have suggested he file for bankruptcy. He said he will not seek shelter there.
"This wasn't just the state or banks," he said. "This is my friends, people who had faith in me. I feel terrible about it."
The economic losses have been far-reaching for Duxstad. After losing his home and the course, he is now living with Nancy DeFevers, a former director of the Pasco/Hernando chapter of the American Cancer Society and owner of a consignment store and boutique in Spring Hill. Since the foreclosure, he has tried to find parties willing to invest in the course so he can get it back, but to no avail.
"I was there virtually every day for 10 years, but we just couldn't hang on long enough," said Duxstad, who has a court date in February on the sales tax charge, which as a second-degree felony could carry a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, a $10,000 fine and restitution.
"I can't pay the sales tax, so I don't know what I can do," he said. "I don't have the money. I have nothing."
Lee Duxstad has found out the same is true for golf as a business venture, even in a state where golf is one of the premier attractions.
The 68-year-old Spring Hill Florida man is the designer and former owner of Rivard Golf & Country Club, a public course off U.S. 41 south of Brooksville Florida that fell into such financial struggles that it was finally foreclosed on in September, leaving Duxstad with nearly $1-million in unpaid loans and civil suits against him. Another hit came last week, when Duxstad was arrested on felony charges of failing to pay more than $30,000 in sales tax.
"It's been a nightmare," Duxstad said Thursday. "I've lost every dime that I had, and every dime I could borrow."
St. Petersburg-based Republic Bank now owns the course and is working to find a buyer, managing the property through a court-appointed receiver for the past seven months. Receiver Peter Bursik's records show financial struggles beyond Florida's normal slow summer season: from Aug. 1 to Oct. 16, the course generated just $19,275 in golf income, not even enough to cover payroll.
Rivard's very existence has been marked by adversity -- its opening was delayed two years by a right-of-way conflict with a railroad company, and it has endured droughts that damaged greens and flooding that temporarily closed seven holes one winter. Months after the course's clubhouse opened in 1999, it suffered $250,000 in damage from a fire the week before Christmas. Duxstad cited all as factors leading to the course's downward spiral.
The real estate around the course has not fared any better. Originally approved for nearly 800 homes, the development has sold about 20 homes in eight years. Although Duxstad was not involved in the development -- the foreclosure was limited to the course itself -- the lack of regular customers didn't help his business.
Duxstad's financial problems start with Republic, which granted the original $850,000 mortgage in 1995 to two companies he headed: Rivard Golf & Country Club and Glen Ayers Inc. The former shares Duxstad's middle name, while the latter refers to the estate of John Harvey Ayers, the original owner of the land and a co-defendant in civil actions because the estate remains on the mortgage for a small amount still owed to it by Duxstad.
Another $250,000 was loaned to the course in 1997 to finance construction of a clubhouse. Republic began foreclosure proceedings in 1998 after three consecutive mortgage payments were not made. But the foreclosure case was dismissed in 1999, and later that year another $110,000 was added to the loan.
Not only did the course default last year by missing multiple payments, but according to the bank, another concern was 'failure to maintain the golf course in a standard required by the industry," thus failing to maintain the property as adequate collateral on the loan.
The Florida golf course was identified by the county as being delinquent on tangible real estate taxes for each of the past two years: $2,809 is owed for 1999 and $1,234 for last year.
Cutting corners to save money took other tolls at Rivard. According to documents filed by Bursik, the course had not insured its fleet of 70 golf carts, which are leased from Yamaha through March 2004, so when 13 were stolen, the course had to cover the loss. Other carts have been found on nearby railroad tracks. And as another sign of financial troubles, the course opted not to take out casualty insurance for the golf carts.
Bursik repeatedly sought additional funds, citing "substantial reduction in rounds of play during the hot and rainy summer months." His initial report told of "little or no equipment sales" and "minimal" sales from food and the driving range. Insurance paid for most of the damage from the clubhouse fire, though enough still has not been renovated that Republic earmarked $38,392 for continued construction on the clubhouse.
Even after the completion of foreclosure, Republic remains in litigation with Duxstad for $596,892, the remaining balance on the mortgage. The two parties were scheduled to meet Nov. 6 for a case management conference with Circuit Judge Richard Tombrink Jr., but the notice mailed to Duxstad's New Port Richey home -- which he lost after foreclosure proceedings last year -- was returned to the sender.
Duxstad is not the only person who has lost money on the course. In addition to Republic Bank, four civil suits have been brought against Duxstad since 2000. Two are from friends who said he did not pay off personal loans in excess of $20,000 and $120,000. A third, filed this summer and seeking $15,000, came from Duxstad's son, Michael, who claimed he had not been paid in 11 months as the course's general manager. Another suit came two weeks ago, when Loan Participant Partners Ltd. filed a suit seeking $214,167 for the unpaid balance of a small-business loan given to the course in 1998.
The Ayers estate stands to lose about $100,000 in unpaid loans from Rivard as a result of the foreclosure. "It's something they basically have to eat," said Charlie Luckie, a Brooksville lawyer representing the estate. "It's money they can't collect, because that corporation is probably worthless now."
When business lagged, the Duxstads apparently sought other sources of revenue at Rivard. Three weeks before the property was put into receivership, Michael Duxstad was cited for selling alcoholic beverages on the premises without a license. Tammy Jo Wieland, 29, of Brooksville, who listed her occupation as a bartender on the citation, sold a beer to a police officer, who found Rivard to have not only cans for sale but also Budweiser on draft.
Charges against Wieland and Duxstad were dismissed after each served 20 hours of community service, with Wieland working two 10-hour shifts with the Hernando County Commission. Her work there was signed off by Barbara Dupre, the county's director of human resources, who shares a house with Michael Duxstad in Spring Hill.
Dupre was again involved with the course in September, when the property was put up for public auction following foreclosure. Republic opened the bidding at $100, but was bid up four times by Dupre, the only other bidder, before Republic finally won the auction for $500,000. The bank was effectively writing a check to itself in acquiring the property, but Dupre's actions forced it to pay $3,500 in additional document stamps because it was officially a sale of property. With Republic officially owning the course, Michael Duxstad was fired later that day.
Michael Johnson, who handled the property for Republic, classified Dupre as an "antagonistic borrower." Dupre declined to comment on the matter beyond saying that she was bidding on behalf of an outside party that was not the Duxstad family.
Michael Duxstad, who has since found employment with the county as a zoning inspector for the past six weeks, filed another lawsuit seeking lost wages Wednesday against the court-appointed receiver, Peter Bursik. The suit alleges that Duxstad received only half of his $600 weekly salary on two occasions in August and September. Bursik's records indicate that Duxstad was paid $3,600 in "travel compensation" in the six weeks before he was fired.
Lee Duxstad's other son, Steven, remains on the course's payroll as superintendent. A summons was sent to the course in January for Steven, seeking more than $10,000 in unpaid credit card bills, and Sears Roebuck and Co. took him to small-claims court in Port Richey in October over another outstanding balance.
With all the financial problems he faces and his only source of income eliminated, Lee Duxstad said many friends have suggested he file for bankruptcy. He said he will not seek shelter there.
"This wasn't just the state or banks," he said. "This is my friends, people who had faith in me. I feel terrible about it."
The economic losses have been far-reaching for Duxstad. After losing his home and the course, he is now living with Nancy DeFevers, a former director of the Pasco/Hernando chapter of the American Cancer Society and owner of a consignment store and boutique in Spring Hill. Since the foreclosure, he has tried to find parties willing to invest in the course so he can get it back, but to no avail.
"I was there virtually every day for 10 years, but we just couldn't hang on long enough," said Duxstad, who has a court date in February on the sales tax charge, which as a second-degree felony could carry a penalty of up to 15 years in prison, a $10,000 fine and restitution.
"I can't pay the sales tax, so I don't know what I can do," he said. "I don't have the money. I have nothing."
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