TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Whispering Oaks Golf Course Now Silent

ADVERTISEMENT

By TONY HOLT, Hernando Today

Published: December 4, 2007

RIDGE MANOR - A once-popular and pristinely landscaped golf course is slowly turning into a weed-infested eyesore and many of the surrounding homeowners are furious their property values are inevitably going to come down.

For the better part of the last month, the greens have been absent of club-swinging men donning white gloves and sun visors. There were no sounds of a whipping driver striking the sweet spot of a ball or the distant hum of a rolling golf cart anywhere on the 18-hole course.

The only sounds echoing across the front nine were the caws coming from the flock of crows circling over the vacant pro shop and swimming pool.
Whispering Oaks Country Club is still open to members, but no one is playing. It is too much of a challenge for anyone to locate a golf ball once it is hit off the tee, even if it lands in the middle of the fairway. No one has cut the grass in months.

"You figure without anyone maintaining that golf course, we're going to lose about one-third of our (property) value," said Paul Brownlee, 70, who serves on the Whispering Oaks Homeowners Association.

The club's owners, Jason and Jill Hofius, could not be contacted at home last week and their phone number is unlisted.

Hernando County Tax Collector Juanita B. Sikes said the Hofiuses owe a total of $56,452.13 in real estate and personal property taxes from 2006 and 2007.

The couple actually paid a large portion of their real estate tax, but until they finish paying off their tangible personal property tax to the county, the taxes they have already paid will not be passed on to the lien holder, according to the tax collector's office.

They currently owe $6,231.92 of personal property tax and are paying it off at $853.91 per month, Sikes said.

Each morning, T.J. Walton, owner of Divots Golf Shop in Spring Hill, calls all of the local golf courses to find out tee times and other information he can pass along to his customers. Whispering Oaks recently was removed from his list.

"I stopped calling them several months ago," Walton said. "I thought people weren't there anymore."

The number at the golf course has been disconnected. The golf shop is locked and the lights are off. The same goes for the banquet hall next door.

The entrance to the swimming pool is blocked and the algae-infested water inside is turning a darker shade of green each day.

Brownlee, who used to play at Whispering Oaks before moving to the accompanying subdivision three years ago, said ownership has changed several times since the course was designed and built in the early 1980s.

Soon after he moved into his house, he decided not to become a full-time member. He recalled getting into a heated exchange with Jason Hofius, who insisted on mowing the front nine holes - which are located closest to the houses in the subdivision - before the crack of dawn.

Brownlee asked him to mow the back nine first so the noise pollution would not wake up those in the neighborhood, but he refused.

Brownlee said the conversation ended when Hofius hung up on him. He thinks the owner's lack of people skills is what ultimately doomed his business.

"You could count on one hand the number of golfers out there," he said. "You could see it coming."

A background check on Hofius, 37, revealed he has never filed for bankruptcy. Court records also revealed no official bankruptcies or foreclosures filed under the owner's name or that of his businesses - Whispering Oaks Golf and Country Club and Hofius Golf Shop Inc.

Grant Tolbert, director of the county's building department, said Hofius owed his office more than $20,000 after the government demolished an abandoned house on the club's property.

The building was infested with bats, which some neighbors liked because it kept the mosquitoes away. Others, like Brownlee, considered it a scenery killer and were glad the county stepped in to remove it.

Tolbert said he was nervous about collecting the debt because Hofius owed a lot of money to a lot of people at the time.

"We had concerns when we filed the lien," Tolbert said. "But he refinanced and that's how he paid for it."

Brownlee thinks Hofius' questionable business decisions also contributed to his and his wife's current financial troubles.

The worst decision may have been to discontinue the six month memberships for snowbirds.

They were required to pay the annual fee of $2,500 per year like everyone else, even though many spent less than half the year in Ridge Manor.

"He did a good job keeping this course up," Brownlee said, "but the point is to try and get people to pay for your services. He didn't understand that."

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT