Ryan Palmer birdied the final hole today to break away from a pack of five other golfers and win the $4.6 million Ginn sur Mer Classic in Palm Coast, FL. It was somehow fitting that the final holes were played under rain clouds.
The golf community empire of Bobby Ginn remains in default of a $675 million loan from Credit Suisse and there is talk that the bank could soon put four Ginn properties in the same condition as hundreds of thousands of Americans, in foreclosure. Key members of the Ginn executive team have left in recent weeks, and the executive page on the organization's web site is gone, according to Toby Tobin, a real estate professional in the Palm Coast area who has been following the Ginn troubles closely.
The Credit Suisse loan covers four of the Ginn communities, including Ginn sur Mer in the Bahamas, Tesoro and Quail West in Florida, and Laurelmor in the mountains of North Carolina. The Bahamas resort is a nearly $5 billion project. Ginn has also turned over two of his other communities to other management firms.
Sotheby's has scheduled an auction of some Ginn properties on Nov. 8th in downtown Orlando, and bidders worldwide can join live online. Twenty Florida homes, condos and home sites at Ginn Reunion Resort, Bella Collina and Ginn Hammock Beach Resort will be sold. A Sotheby representative indicated strong interest from the UK, Canada and Europe. Deep discounts are expected, consistent with such a messy situation.
