Hawaiian Golf Properties LLC has acquired its fourth course in the past year with the acquisition of Makaha Resort & Golf Club in Oahu, Hawaii.
The Canadian investment group, backed with Chinese money, bought Kapolei Golf Course in Oahu in September and the Golf Club at SouthShore in Henderson, Nev., in February. It started leasing Luana Hills Country Club in Kailua, Hawaii in March and changed the name to Royal Hawaiian Golf Club.
John Harman, the company’s Vice President of Golf Operations, said the company hopes to build a “cluster” of four to six — or more — courses.
“You’d be very impressed if I told you how many people called me up and said ‘we might be for sale,’ ” Harman told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “Once they found out we were buying, people were calling. We’re picking and choosing which ones we want at the beginning.”
Harman, who is half Chinese, said the company owners are passionate about golf and believe the next big market is China.
Hawaiian Golf Properties acquired Makaha from Northwynd Resort Properties Ltd. for an undisclosed amount. Northwynd has retained the 173-room hotel which is adjacent to the course and plans to redevelop it. Northwynd has owned Makaha Resort since July when it acquired the assets of another Canadian firm, Fairmont Resort Properties Ltd., through a court-supervised debt restructuring. Fairmont bought the resort in 2004 for $13.5 million. The golf course will be closed soon for renovations.