Homeowners Breathe New Life into Woodhaven CC

When the Palm Desert, Calif., club went into foreclosure, residents paid $6,000 each to buy and manage the 120-acre facility.

Not content with watching their semiprivate Woodhaven Country Club fall into disrepair after its 2010 foreclosure, homeowners in the Palm Desert, Calif., community secured a $3 million loan to buy the club, The Desert Sun reported.

Now the club is seeing a bustling clubhouse, maintained greens and a boost to home sales.

“I think the morale of the community is at an all-time high,” Connie Tuerk, Woodhaven Advisory Committee Senior Adviser, told the Sun.

The Woodhaven homeowners’ association (HOA) made attempts in the past to purchase the 120-acre club, but could not rally enough support from the 504 homeowners. After the property was foreclosed, however, a 93 percent vote in favor of buying it breathed new life into the club, HOA President Jay Rodriguez said.

Every property paid $6,000, with help for those who could not afford it upfront. Now, the loan is about 75 percent paid off.

Some of the upgrades to the club as a result of the purchase include new greens, repaired bathrooms, a new roof for the 34,000-sq. ft. clubhouse, a new gym, a new chef and eventually, a lake.

“We are continually improving the course,” Golf Course Manager Matt Valen said. “It suffered years and years of neglect, and we’re trying to get it back to what it was.”

Monthly membership fees range from $331 for singles to $443 for a family. Daily fees to play the Woodhaven course range from $45 to $67.

To secure a stable financial future, the club has set up a reserve account that allowed new roads to be installed at $600,000, without a penny coming out of assessment. Homeowners volunteer on multiple committees and the club has seen 11 new members added this year, the Sun reported.

“We had a pretty good exodus under the previous owners, and now they’re gradually coming back to us,” HOA member and Advisory Committee Chairman Bill Hovey said.

Tags: Bill Hovey Connie Tuerk Jay Rodriguez Matt Valen The Desert Sun Woodhaven Advisory Committee Woodhaven Country Club