The last several months have been nothing if not eventful at the former Fox Hill Country Club.
The 39-year-old club in Longmont had been scheduled for a foreclosure sale later this month, but was purchased by an ownership group that includes Steve Kerr, who’s also a part-owner of Colorado National Golf Club in Erie. The deal for Fox Hill, which had been member-owned, closed about three weeks ago.
But while the new owners will keep Fox Hill private, several notable changes have taken place. First, the club has undergone a slight name change and now is doing business as The Fox Hill Club, though it will continue to have the amenities of a country club. And second, Barry Jennings no longer is the head professional at Fox Hill. Jennings, a PGA Master Professional, had been the club’s head pro for 22 years.
While Jennings pursues another job in Colorado golf, Kerr said Matt Stewart has been hired as the new head professional at Fox Hill. Stewart has been an assistant pro at Cherry Hills Country Club under John Ogden.
Meanwhile, Kerr said Matt Schalk will serve as regional manager of both Fox Hill and Colorado National, though Kerr noted that Schalk will be “totally hands-on” at the latter, where he’s been based in recent years. Since 2009, Colorado National has served as the home course for the University of Colorado golf teams.
While all this has been going on on the business side of things for Kerr (pictured at left), it’s been a memorable time for him personally as well. On St. Patrick’s Day — appropriately, given the family’s considerable Irish heritage — his daughter Erin, the 2005 HealthOne Colorado Women’s Open champion, gave birth to Kerr’s second grandchild.
When Kerr helped purchase Vista Ridge Golf Course, which was later renamed Colorado National, he had no intention of adding any other courses in the state. But that was before the Fox Hill opportunity presented itself.
“In the case of Fox Hill, there’s some intrinsic value in where the club is situated,” he said. “I was also compelled by Longmont, and I always thought the gem of Longmont is Fox Hill. And it’s the one (private course) in a town of 90,000.”
The former CU golfer was previously a part owner of the courses of Chaparral Pines and Palm Valley in Arizona, but he’s since been bought out of those ventures, in one case by Phil Mickelson and Steve Loy, who have been partners of Kerr in some business dealings.
Kerr made it big financially as a Phoenix-based merchant banker who helped take companies public. As for owning golf courses, he’s only interested if it makes sense financially. But even with many courses struggling to turn a profit, he believes the right ones can operate in the black if run properly.
“I’m a contrarian,” Kerr said. “You can’t (own courses) on a portfolio basis, but you can pick your spots. We can’t get involved unless we can make it go on its own.”
Fox Hill’s membership had dropped by about 30 percent over the last two years, according to Kerr, and club officials are now in the process of trying to bolster the numbers. As of about two weeks ago, Kerr said 278 people had signed up for golf memberships, with another 68 opting for social memberships. The goal is to reach 450 golf members.
So how will Fox Hill now succeed financially where it’s failed in recent years?
One reason, Kerr said, is economies of greater scale. Working with management firm OB Sports helps with issues such as centralized accounting and buying power, as it essentially provides a co-op situation.
Kerr said that Fox Hill will now operate a bit differently than many private clubs have in the past. He noted that he’s told members that “there will be no assessments ever. That doesn’t mean dues won’t ever go up, but there will be no assessments.”
As for the golf itself, Kerr said members at The Fox Hill Club will have reciprocity at Colorado National — and at least for this year at Fort Collins and Greeley Country Clubs.
