There are members who will tell you this wasn’t necessary – that The Moorings didn’t need to acquire a full-length, championship-caliber golf course and Hawk’s Nest didn’t need to sell to survive.
They want you to believe they made this move only because their clubs were presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a can’t-miss chance to make a good situation even better.
Don’t believe it.
The Moorings Yacht & Country Club needed the Hawk’s Nest Golf Club layout to remain competitive in appealing to younger executives less apt to be satisfied with an 4,434-yard, par-64 short course.
Hawk’s Nest, which was carrying a debt of slightly more than $2 million and had lost more than 100 members since its pre-recession heyday, needed a long-term solution to the financial challenges confronting many stand-alone golf clubs in a shrinking industry.
This had to happen.
And it has: The Moorings’ Board of Governors voted unanimously last Wednesday to move forward with the signing of the purchase agreement, and the Hawk’s Nest board did the same Friday.
The closing of The Moorings’ $2.5 million purchase of Hawk’s Nest’s 300-acre property at 6005 Old Dixie Highway, north of Vero Beach, is scheduled for early next month.
“We are positioned to have the finest club in all of Vero Beach, offering first-class service and amenities,” the presidents of each club wrote in Sept. 11 letters to their members.
Other than the mention of different names from each club, in fact, the letters were nearly identical – an early example of the merging of the two clubs under The Moorings’ banner, which now flies as high as any in Indian River County.
“They had what we were looking for, and we had what they were looking for,” said Steve Bessin, The Moorings’ membership chairman and a member of the club’s Hawk’s Nest Acquisition Steering Committee.
“The timing was perfect and we were able to pull it off.
“This is an exciting time for our club, and we’re looking forward to having the Hawk’s Nest members join us,” he added.
“The amenities package that we’re now able to offer as a full-service club is unsurpassed. There isn’t a club like this around here.”
In addition to the two golf courses, The Moorings’ amenities include a yacht club, tennis complex, swimming pool, fitness center and spa, and both casual and fine dining.
More than 100 of Hawk’s Nest’s 144 members are expected to accept membership at The Moorings – and the addition of Hawk’s Nest’s highly rated, 7,046-yard, Jim Fazio-designed layout is likely to lure more golfers to the seaside club.
“This is going to add tremendous value to The Moorings,” said one Hawk’s Nest member, a longtime local golfer with friends throughout the community. “I’m already hearing a lot of talk about people wanting to become Moorings members once the sale goes through.”
Ursula Gunter, director of marketing and membership at The Moorings, said the club recently increased the cost of full memberships from $25,000 to $55,000.
However, she declined to say how many members currently belong to the club – not including the anticipated influx from Hawk’s Nest – or provide the amount full members pay in annual dues.
“We have many different types of memberships and it is not a static number,” she said. “Once we have solid numbers that are vetted and accurate, we will be happy to share.”
As for the expected boost in membership, Gunter said, “We’ll be a very healthy club.”
And getting healthier.
Greeting the new members, from Hawk’s Nest and elsewhere, will be a fully renovated and slightly reconfigured Dockside Grille, the popular, pool-side gathering spot that offers casual dining, drinks and socializing – The Moorings’ answer to Quail Valley’s Tiki Bar.
The improvements to the Dockside and adjoining Commodores Room include new carpeting, painting, furnishings and kitchen equipment, as well as a slight expansion to the bar.
The room’s square footage, though, will not change.
“The exterior footprint will be exactly the same,” Moorings General Manager Craig Lopes said. “The upgrades are mostly for cosmetics and efficiency.”
The upgrade that means the most, though, is the addition of one of the area’s top golf courses, a perfect complement to the Pete Dye-designed, executive-style layout at The Moorings.
The club now can accommodate golfers of all ages and abilities on two of the area’s most picturesque courses.
Hawk’s Nest was built along the same sand-based ridge as Red Stick, John’s Island West, Bent Pine and the Indian River Club, as well as the county-owned, aptly named Sandridge Golf Club.
“The long course makes a difference,” Bessin said. “It also puts us on the mainland, which provides an opportunity to expand our demographic and our geographic presence.”
Or as Lopes put it: “This expands our footprint from the island to the north county.”
As for whether Hawk’s Nest will be rebranded, perhaps as The Moorings West, Lopes said it was too soon to address the issue.
Similarly, Hawk’s Nest General Manager Bob Gruber said it was too soon to predict how many of his members would accept memberships at The Moorings.
Several of them, he added, already have memberships there and would save money, no longer needing to pay dues to two clubs.
Without giving specifics, Gunter said Hawk’s Nest members would not pay more than they’re paying now when they become members at The Moorings.
Other details, including Hawk’s Nest’s representation on The Moorings board, will be discussed and decided in the coming weeks by an integration committee composed of members from both clubs.
The committee will include: Dave Smith, Wendy Winger, Les Freeman, Kathy Smith and Bessin from The Moorings; and Don Gervais, Roger Haines, David Griffin and Stan Ziemski from Hawk’s Nest.
In addition, the presidents of both clubs – The Moorings’ Joe Vargas and Hawk’s Nest’s Pat McLachlan – said in their letters that Lopes and Gruber “will be involved in all aspects of this process as it relates to operations, staffing and programming.”
So, finally, six months after the first inquiries were made and four months after Moorings members overwhelming authorized the club’s board to negotiate the purchase of Hawk’s Nest, the deal is done.
It’s a good deal, too … for both sides.
Hawk’s Nest members voted in late May to sell their 28-year-old club to The Moorings, rather than to the San Diego-based Heritage Golf Group.
A third group, composed of three Hawk’s Nest members who wanted the club to remain independent, dropped out shortly before the vote.
The Moorings’ offer will be funded by 25 members, selected via lottery, each putting up $100,000. In exchange, they will be exempt from all club dues for the rest of their lives and the lives of their spouses.
The $2.5 million allows The Moorings to pay off Hawk’s Nest’s $2 million debt and provide an additional $500,000 for other expenses related to the acquisition.
A recent appraisal of the property put its value at $5.5 million.
According to Vargas’ April letter to Moorings members, they will not incur any debt as a result of the purchase, nor will there be any increase in dues, fees or charges, other than normal cost-of-living increases.
“Other clubs in our area are investing heavily in their facilities and offerings,” Vargas wrote in that letter. “Many new, younger retirees and professionals are looking for a championship long course.
“Given our current extraordinary package of amenities, adding a long course will set us apart in the marketplace and help assure the future growth and financial stability of our wonderful club,” he continued.
“Your board believes the acquisition of Hawk’s Nest will position our club in the top tier of clubs in the state.”
The Moorings needed this acquisition – not to survive, necessarily, but to thrive in a competitive countryclub market on the island.
Likewise, as one knowledgeable source said, “Remaining an independent club was not a sustainable option for Hawk’s Nest.”
True, Hawk’s Nest could’ve sold to the Heritage folks, but members had more to gain by selling to The Moorings, which has plenty of motivation to invest in its newly acquired asset.
So this is a win-win situation.
This needed to happen.
“Sometimes,” Gruber said, “one plus one equals way more than two.”
