Golf Course Scores Bid On PE Courthouse Steps

Published 7:35 am Wednesday, May 27, 2015

PRINCE EDWARD — It took only minutes Friday morning on the steps of the Prince Edward County courthouse, but the Manor Golf Club had only one, lone bid at the substitute trustee’s sale: from the bond holder.

The bid received for the 18-hole golf course—located south of Farmville off of U.S. Route 15—tallied $600,000, far below its estimated $8 million initial construction cost when it was built in 2006.

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No plans for the property were announced immediately following the sale.

At least part of the original dream for the area’s development, a championship-style golf course, and surrounding residential areas, is still alive. Though the golf course has gone to auction, it has not ceased to operate. Meanwhile, potential home sites, still await those dwellings.

Originally conceived by the Poplar Hill Community Development Authority (CDA), and long out of its ownership hands, the project still has hope and life.

“It needs to be owned or leased by someone or some entity that people can have confidence in that it will be there so that developers can develop the residential…People don’t want to buy a lot out there to build a house if they think the golf course might close in six months,” said current CDA Chairman Hunter Watson Friday afternoon. “But if you have some stability—it needs stability, that’s the big thing—and I think…(he) will probably give it that in one fashion or another.”