New operator in works for White Deer Run Golf Club in Vernon Hills
A new operator is expected to take the helm at White Deer Run Golf Club in Vernon Hills - the first change in management since the self-described premier public course was built nearly 25 years ago.
The 240-acre club east of Butterfield Road on the north end of the village was built in the late 1990s by Par Development Inc. as the centerpiece of the 2,100-home Gregg's Landing community on the renowned former Cuneo property.
Par was among the entities now known as the Plote Companies, which spans a variety of businesses, including construction, homebuilding, commercial development and management and mining.
Vernon Hills provided the land and Par built the golf course and clubhouse. Plote Construction Inc. has leased the course from the village and operated the golf course.
"We've had a tremendous partnership," Ryan Trottier, chief operating officer recently told village officials. "We're incredibly thankful and grateful for that, but it has come time for the Plote family to pass the torch on to someone else."
The current lease runs to 2050.
The company also built the private, 27-hole Boulder Ridge Country Club north of Algonquin Road in Lake in the Hills and the homes surrounding it, where a number of Plote family members live. The course was sold to the Heritage Golf Group, Trottier said.
"It was very important that we find somebody to maintain that legacy of quality and golf that was created by the Plote family at Boulder Ridge," Trottier said.
Heritage also wants to operate White Deer Run.
The company owns and operates nine high-end private, daily fee and resort golf properties in New York, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Virginia and Hilton Head, South Carolina. Its holdings include Tournament Players Club courses near Tampa Bay and Sarasota, Florida.
Mark Burnett, president and CEO, worked for the largest private golf course owner and operator, ClubCorp, before coming out of retirement to lead Heritage, based in Herndon, Virginia, near Washington, D.C.
In a presentation to the village board, Burnett said he has roots in Lake County. His grandfather operated the Burnett (now Burnett-Dane) Funeral Home in Libertyville and his father grew up in town.
"We take all the capital risks," he said. "We'll look to make immediate improvements and do some things to continue to drive interest there, which is in all our best interests."
Projects on this season's capital list include sealing and striping the parking lot and cart staging area, continuing cart path repairs and sand trap restoration.
Burnett said course conditions are a priority. Plans also call for immediate and long-term course maintenance and improvements, as well as marketing to drive course use and growth.
"It's something that we really, really think is a great potential partnership, and we're looking for a long-term relationship," Burnett told the village board.
After a review to determine Heritage's financial ability to run the club, the village board would vote on reassigning the lease from Plote to Heritage.
"All the people remain the same," Village Manager Mark Fleischhauer said of the employees. "It's just where their paychecks come from" that will change.