The court has denied a motion to prevent the shareholder vote onGoldman Sachs' previously announced offer to acquire thefinancially troubled real estate investment trust and itsaffiliated private company, American Golf Corp., for $1.1 billion.The partners in the buyout would include affiliates of GS CapitalPartners 2000 and Whitehall Street Global Real Estate LimitedPartnership 2001, both of which are affiliates of Goldman, Sachs& Co., and SOF-VI U.S. Holdings, an affiliate of Starwood GroupGlobal LLC.

National Golf is a publicly traded REIT specializing in theownership of golf courses, including 116 courses at 104 facilitiesin 22 states.

The motion to deny the shareholder vote is the latest in aseries of legal and financial troubles plaguing National Golf,which began struggling after the slumping economy drained businessfrom its courses. Beginning in February, according to the REIT'slatest quarterly financial report, 13 lawsuits have been filedagainst the company alleging breach of fiduciary duty and otheraccusations.