Developer brings Cottonwood Hills golf course back to life

It took three years and $16 million to turn a section of scrubby sand dunes east of Hutchinson into the Cottonwood Hills Golf Club.

It was amazing how fast, following the original owner’s bankruptcy, that nature started reclaiming it as part of the Kansas prairie.

But lead partner Drayton Alldritt and a team of employees have been cutting, reseeding, fertilizing and otherwise nurturing the course in eastern Reno County for the past year.

It is set to open May 1. And, just like the physical resurgence, Alldritt is counting on a financial resurgence of the golf course.

Alldritt, whose day job is as a top commercial banker in Kansas for Bank of America, occasionally develops property – or, in this case, redevelops.

Getting the course ready has taken a huge amount of labor, particularly as spring is here and May 1 looms.

“It’s been a mad scramble,” he said.

The course will be public, although it will have discounts for members, he said.

The operation is still a little rough. A new double-wide mobile home serves as a temporary clubhouse. Chickens wander the grounds of the maintenance area. Some of the replanted greens are still a little patchy.

But the course itself generally looks, feels and plays terrific, said course pro Matt Seitz.

“It’s as good as it gets – in the world,” Seitz said. “It’s a real challenge. It’s definitely not a boring course.”

There are six miles of winding, up-and-down cart paths.

“There’s $2 million in the cart paths alone,” Alldritt said. “They spared no expense out there, which is one of the reasons that attracted us.”

Developed by Hutchinson native Lane Neville, it was designed by six-time major golf champion Nick Faldo as the centerpiece for a luxury home development. The first nine holes opened in 2007 and the second nine in 2008, but by then it was already struggling financially. The course closed before the end of the season that year and staff members were laid off. Neville worked to restructure debt, and the course reopened for a time in 2009 but closed partway through the season.

Alldritt knew Neville and followed the fortunes of the golf course from afar. The Bank of Camden in Camden, Tenn., bought the property out of bankruptcy in 2011 and by 2012 decided it didn’t want to own a closed golf course. In 2013, Alldritt and seven investors bought the 619-acre course and housing lots from the bank.

Lane Neville’s brother, Brad Neville, is chief operating officer. Nate Ratzlaff is course superintendent, and Alldritt’s son, Justin, is handling some of the finances.

Alldritt said he bought the course inexpensively enough that he expects it to be profitable as a standalone business. He and those working for him remain tight with money, such as buying used equipment at a discount.

Construction on the permanent clubhouse will begin this summer.

Eventually, he said, he expects to redraw the plans for the first group of houses next spring and start selling lots in another two years.

“What I told everybody is that, at the end of the day, I wanted to preserve the asset,” he said. “I’m not even sure I make any money. I think I will, but I’m not sure.”

This story was originally published April 8, 2015 at 5:27 PM with the headline "Developer brings Cottonwood Hills golf course back to life."