Warrior Golf Properties, LLC has acquired Bos Landen Golf Club in Pella, Iowa, bringing the company’s portfolio to 13 total courses and continuing its rapid growth. Bos Landen represents the company’s first foray into Iowa, and is consistently ranked as the top-rated course in that state.
The 18-hole course was designed by architect Dick Phelps and cost about $15 million to build. The City of Pella took over the course, and now has agreed to a 99-year lease with Warrior Golf to operate the golf course and its facilities. Walter Bolen of Warrior Golf says the terms, coupled with the course’s reputation, made Bos Landen an attractive prospect for the company.
Warrior Golf is a relatively young company that has made huge gains in just a few years. With its roots as a custom golf club manufacturing company known as Warrior Custom Golf, the company branched into course ownership in 2009. Founder Brendan Flaherty assembled a handful of investors to acquire his first six properties in just two years.
Flaherty has said the company’s target consumers are value-driven, and thus Warrior Golf’s first courses fit a similar profile.
But while the company may have started with smaller, fixer-upper courses, Bolen believes its success and recent hiring of seasoned staff will allow it to expand into luxury markets.
“Since we started, we’ve learned a lot about running golf courses in an efficient manner, which is something we maybe didn’t know as much about before,” Bolen said. “Our own skills have improved, our personnel has improved, and we intend to target bigger and higher-end properties now.”
The team at Warrior Golf is confident in the company’s future growth, though its core belief in acquiring courses at low prices hasn’t changed.
“It’s a buyer’s market, and a lot of good properties are up for grabs at rock bottom prices,” Bolen said. “We intend to keep growing through prudent acquisitions.”