About 100 people gathered for an auction of 462 items at the former Bonsall, Calif., resort, clearing the property of even the chairs that bidders sat on throughout the auction.
The San Luis Rey Downs Golf Club in Bonsall, Calif., is gone for good after about 100 people gathered for an auction this week where every piece of the aging resort was sold off at bargain prices, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Twenty-four old televisions from the shuttered hotel on the property were snatched up by one man for a total of $17.50, the Union-Tribune reported.
“You’d be the West Coast distributor for 1980s TV’s,” auctioneer Jake Cheechov told the prospective buyer, injecting some levity into the somewhat bleak scene. “Congratulations, you are the TV King of Southern California.”
From tools to golf courts to chairs to bunker rakes, everything went quickly. Lot No. 92—out of 462 up for bid—consisted of more than 50 used golf club shafts, the Union-Tribune reported.
“If you’ve ever wanted to give somebody the shaft, this is your opportunity,” Cheechov joked. The items went for $25, the Union-Tribune reported.
Though neighbors of the golf course decried its closure and are fighting plans to turn the site into a natural wetlands, none came to pick up a piece of memorabilia. The crowd was composed of auction veterans looking to score a great deal, said McCormack Auction Systems employee Jason Stancill.
A sign on the Pro Shop door read: “As of 8/7/2014 golf course is permanently closed. Please do not trespass on property.” Even the 83 chairs that the bidders were sitting on were sold in lot No. 102 for $1,700—though the auctioneer cautioned they couldn’t be carted off until the event was over, the Union-Tribune reported.
The Vessels family, owners of the course for decades, decided earlier this year to close the Downs, which was designed in 1961 by Billy Bell Jr. who a short time earlier had designed Torrey Pines, the Union-Tribune reported.
The owners said the course had been steadily losing money for nearly a decade and there was no way they could keep it open. Instead, the ownership has embarked on a unique plan to turn the course into a wetland mitigation land bank, the Union-Tribune reported.
Years of regulatory approvals still most be maneuvered, but if that happens then everything at the site, including the course, the hotel, the banquet room, pro shop, restaurant and tennis courts, would be razed and the entire area would be replanted, the Union-Tribune reported.
The project could cost millions, but the potential profit is immense if it all comes together. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has gone on record saying the region is in desperate need of such mitigation banks. Developers throughout the North County, looking to offset environmental damage caused by their projects, could buy mitigation “credits” from the property. Experts say the potential value of such a bank could be in the tens of millions of dollars, the Union-Tribune reported.
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