Once a pioneer of the Sarasota retirement golf community landscape, one of the area’s largest and most familiar golf clubs is closed for business and entrenched in bankruptcy proceedings after a protracted decline.

The Meadows Country Club terminates lease with community association, files for bankruptcy

Many residents have pointed to declining membership and decades of deferred maintenance as the reason for the country club’s decline, but it’s unclear when or why exactly the club slipped. Neither the country club nor its legal representation responded to requests for comment.

Serious talks of selling the country club’s land and assets began when the club first faced bankruptcy around 2018. The MCA stepped in that same year and purchased more than 310 acres listed at 3101 Longmeadow from the country club for $6 million, according to Sarasota County property records.

MCA President Chris Perone told the Herald-Tribune the community association made the purchase to keep the acreage as green space and prevent development on the land that an outside buyer might’ve brought on. The sale meant “a sports and leisure complex including three golf courses, 17 tennis courts, a wellness center, a pool and a clubhouse” went under community association ownership, per lease documents published on the resident-run Sarasota Meadows Blog.

The MCA leased the land and facilities back out to the country club for $10 per year and a monthly fee for the fitness facility, according to the documents. The club and the community association operated under that agreement until March 21, when country club terminated this lease. The termination was made effective April 30.

The country club’s restaurant and golf courses have been closed since that date, though the pool, racquet club and fitness center were open as of July 14. The roof of the club is under a blue tarp, and a sign out front announces the temporary closure of facilities.

Perone told the Herald-Tribune there’s no timeline for the reopening of the golf courses, though it’s not a matter that the MCA can solve in a matter of months. He said the community association is looking into possible options and updating residents with all available information.

The club is listed as permanently closed upon a Google search, and the link to the country club’s website now redirects to the website for Clubessential, a software manufacturer for country clubs and similar organizations. It’s unclear whether The Meadows is a Clubessential customer.

The country club’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing would allow it to liquidate some of its assets if the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida approves the club’s petition. The club could then use that cash flow to pay off its debts.

n the event of bankruptcy, the club’s lease with the community association states that all property of the club on the premises will become property of the community association. The club has between about $1 million and $10 million in both estimated assets and liabilities and between 200 and 999 estimated creditors, according to bankruptcy documents.

Since its initial filing, the club has notified almost 1,600 creditors - most of them are Sarasota residents and likely club members - that they have until Oct. 14 to submit proof of a claim. The MCA has entered Steven M. Berman of the Shumaker, Loop and Kendrick law firm as its attorney in court proceedings, and the association is listed as a creditor in court documents.

The court deemed the club’s petition as deficient, as it lacked key documents such as a statement of financial affairs or summary of assets and liabilities. The club has until July 21 to submit these, according to bankruptcy documents.
Meadows residents remain frustrated amid country club closure

Resident frustration, boiling as country club conditions continued to deteriorate, erupted with the termination of the lease. Several have independently tracked and published updates on the community association and the country club, supplementing what they say is a lack of transparency from the association’s board.

"We found that any attempts to have a rational, constructive discussion about MCA’s assets quickly ground to a halt due to a lack of actual information," a post from the Sarasota Meadows Blog titled "What is our goal?" reads. "With solid relevant information and analysis, MCA Homeowners are able to have constructive dialogue and the opportunity to find a better, less costly, way to utilize MCA Homeowners’ sports and dining complex assets."

Many declined to use their names or speak on the record to the Herald-Tribune out of concern for retaliation.

The grievances stem mostly from confusion surrounding the country club’s finances, as well as the current absence of golf. Residents are concerned the country club’s backslide will slash their property values and don’t feel the community association should use their annual fees to maintain the already-defunct club and its assets, which the MCA maintains isn’t the case.

Meadows residents have seen their property assessment fees levied by the MCA rise each year since the community association purchased the club land, though the MCA has insisted the increases haven’t subsidized club maintenance and upkeep. In a memo sent to residents and obtained by the Herald-Tribune, the MCA told residents the rising fees corresponded to higher insurance and maintenance costs associated with their condos or townhomes, as well as a county-wide rise in tax assessments since 2018.

“Property taxes alone were responsible for the vast majority of all MCA assessment increases,” the memo reads. “THE GOLF CLUB WAS NOT THE PROBLEM.”

According to the MCA’s budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which outlined how it would allocate almost $5 million in resident property assessment fees, the association funneled $600,000 toward a Renaissance Access Plan. The plan, per another memo sent to Meadows homeowners, partially funded the club’s golf, dining, fitness center and pool.

Perone, the MCA president, declined to discuss the changes to these assessment fees or other financial details.

In the wake of the club’s shutdown, residents have lobbied the MCA to consider selling the land to a third-party golf club operator or bring in an outside consultant to discuss other options. Perone told the Herald-Tribune that the organization has no intention to sell the club, as its top priority is preserving the green space and drove the purchase in the first place.

Instead, the MCA board is considering leasing the land and facilities back out to another club operator while retaining ownership. But residents, like those active on the Meadows community Facebook page, are skeptical that anyone would bite.

“Unless an operator has an equity interest in the club's assets, they will never make the massive investment needed to get the courses back up and running,” a Facebook post obtained by the Herald-Tribune reads. “As a tenant and not an owner, they could never recoup their investment.”