Area Golf Courses Attract Buyers

CHICAGO—On August 28, The Oak Club of Genoa, an 18-hole golf course in DeKalb County just northwest of Chicago, will go up for auction online, and even though many courses throughout the metropolitan area have started losing money, Diana Peterson expects to find a buyer. “We anticipate it being under contract in the next couple of days,” says the executive vice president of Auctions by ATG, a Chicago-based subsidiary of Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund, Inc. The firm has been in business since early 2012 and periodically conducts online auctions, although many of the potential buyers attend in person at the company’s downtown office.

“We do a lot of targeted pre-auction marketing and we did a lot of outreach to people who have an interest” in the Oak Club, Peterson says. “Most of these courses are built on land that’s not suitable for agriculture,” and she believes the eventual buyers will be local investors who want to hang onto the club, located on 157 acres at 11770 Elwood Greens Rd. in Kingston. The auction will start with a minimum bid of $595,000.