Wynn Golf offers to buy course

By Liz Benston (contact)

Tuesday, June 22, 2004 | 10:43 a.m.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. has offered to buy the Las Vegas Country Club for about $40 million because the company says it wants to expand its golf offerings for resort guests.

Wynn Golf, a subsidiary of Wynn Resorts, is offering $50,000 to buy out each membership as well as up to $7 million to settle outstanding debt. The club is owned by about 650 members. A sale would require votes of approval from 438 of the members, or about two-thirds of club owners.

The decision to offer to buy the course was made after Steve Wynn announced plans a few months ago to build a second hotel tower at his $2.4 billion Wynn Las Vegas resort, Wynn officials said. Construction on a 1,300-room tower is set to begin before the 2,700-room resort's planned opening in April 2005.

"We wanted to have extra golf capacity as we add more rooms to the resort," Wynn Resorts spokeswoman Denise Randazzo said. "We want to give them more options to play and availability to play."

The course, which sits on the east side of Joe E. Brown Drive just opposite the Las Vegas Hilton, was designed in 1967 as the first private, member-owned golf club in Las Vegas.

The course would become public with the sale and operate under a daily fee program for at least two years. Former country club members would be offered discounts on annual, non-equity memberships, Randazzo said. The existing golf course under development at the Wynn Las Vegas site will be available only for resort guests.

The buyout includes the country club course but doesn't include the the homes that are built around the fairways.

The offer marks the second in six years for the club. Hilton Hotels Corp., then-owner of the Las Vegas Hilton, was rebuffed even after increasing its offer from $38.5 million in 1997 to $55 million in cash and $5 million to repay debt. Each member would have received about $84,000 per membership. Hilton wanted to acquire the course as an amenity for hotel customers as well as owners of its nearby time shares.

Casino real estate broker and country club member David Atwell said Wynn will probably have to increase his offer.

"I think the property is worth more than that," he said. "Hilton offered considerably more and the property isn't worth any less today. It is irreplaceable and has development potential."

Other golf real estate experts, who declined to be named, said they would be surprised if the course sold to Wynn because many owners are longtime members who like belonging to a private club and don't need the money.

On the other hand, the Hilton offer was made around the time the golf market peaked in Las Vegas, they said. Golf memberships are now worth less and there's plenty of competition from newer courses nowadays, they said. Newer members might also be convinced to sell, they said.

Wynn likely wants the course so he can develop on the Wynn Las Vegas golf site in the long term, experts said. The site is large and could accommodate office parks, resorts and other features, they said.

Las Vegas Country Club General Manager Dale Telford declined to comment on the offer and Wynn was out of town and could not be reached for comment.