Executive buys golf course for $3.4M

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Golf executive Jon Whittemore purchased Legacy Golf Club at Lakewood Ranch, an 18-hole public golf course designed by golfing legend Arnold Palmer, for $3.4 million.

It's the second time the club has been sold in 2015 and Whittemore is the fourth owner in six years. Whittemore bought the club from Dallas-based ClubCorp. ClubCorp. acquired the course in March, part of a multi-club portfolio it bought from Stratford Golf Partners and Accord Golf Capital for around $44 million.

Whittemore lives in Lakewood Ranch and has local market experience, which made the opportunity more appealing, he says in an interview with the Business Observer.

Whittemore, a principal in Dallas-based Advance Golf, and his business partners own two other courses in the area: Serenoa Golf Club and Rolling Green Golf Club. Whittemore says they are not actively looking to purchase another course but “would entertain an offer.” Advance Golf also owns courses in North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Delaware.

Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, the developer of Lakewood Ranch, opened Legacy Golf Club in March 1997.