North Augusta (S.C.) G&CC Temporarily Closed

With little to no warning to members, the club is closed for facility repairs, maintenance and renovations under new ownership.

North Augusta (S.C.) Golf & Country Club is temporarily closed following its purchase, leaving some members confused, the Aiken Standard reported.

“We’ve not heard a thing,” said Tina Nordeen, vice president of the country club’s swim team. “No one has contacted any member, and there are at least 50 families on the swim team that have paid $350 for a pool membership for the summer, and we’ve not heard any updates or been contacted.”

August businessman Donnie Thompson is the new owner and he confirmed that crews were working on renovations, leaving the facility closed. Thompson said the pool’s closure was linked to late insurance payments, the Standard reported.

Chris Liner, coach of the boys’ segment of the high school’s swim team, which uses the facility, said “the details of what our season is going to look like are still up in the air, but the one thing we do know is that we’re pretty confident that there will be a team.”

In April 2007, the clubhouse burned to the ground, just three days after it was purchased by Fred Layman. Layman then offered the facility at auction but could not get an acceptable price. He was later convicted on federal mortgage-fraud charges and is in federal prison, the Standard reported.

Now, repairs and maintenance are the focus of the facility, but some swim members are annoyed, the Standard reported.

“There’s a lot of members that are upset because of the fact that they paid their fees for the summer swim season, and the pool has been shut down,” a local swim-team booster said. “They got one month’s use out of it.”

Tags: Donnie Thompson fred layman north augusta golf & country club north augusta s.c. tina nordeen