Plant City Observer

Golf & country club under new management

One of the 18-hole golf courses in the Walden Lake community is under new management.

Lynn Archibald is the owner of Professional Golf Global Group and the new manager of The Lakes golf course at Walden Lake Golf & Country Club. As the new manager, Archibald hopes to restore the quality of life to Walden Lake homeowners.

“I know what it’s expected to be,” Archibald said. “I want to do the right thing.”

After filing bankruptcy in 2011, Walden Lake Golf & Country Club could not keep both of its courses in top condition. It closed The Hills Course in 2013. Combined with its aging clubhouse and pool, membership sank further.

One of Archibald’s priorities is to bring back membership to The Lakes.

He is also the new manager of the swimming pool at the country club, which has since reopened.

This is the first golf course that Archibald has managed. He graduated from a golf management school in August 2014.

Although the course is under new management, ownership has not changed. The golf course is still owned by Visions Golf LLC.

Visions Golf has plans to ask the city for a rezone of its property to build more than 300 homes on the site of The Hills course in Walden Lake. Development plans include 154 single-family lots, 156 four-plex units, a 7-acre park and a 100-unit assisted living facility.

Despite the positive plans from Archibald to turn The Lakes course around, many residents are still concerned about The Hills course’s rezoning. Some have even banded together to form Walden Lake Community Preservation Inc to stop the rezoning with a lawsuit.

WLCA President Bob Hunter considers the possible rezoning to be inappropriate and inconsiderate to Walden Lake homeowners. The WLCA board voted against the rezoning at its monthly meeting in May.

The Planning Board will hear about rezoning The Hills course Aug. 13 at 6 p.m. at the Trinkle Center at Hillsborough Community College.

Exit mobile version