By Scott Robertson
The principals: (L-R) Jack Davis, Jr., Roscoe Bowman, Mitch Walters, Tim Carter and Gene Garrote.
Country Club at Bristol has been in limbo for the better part of a decade. But after a pair of transactions July 1, members hope a new era of stability is dawning.
Local businessmen Roscoe Bowman, Tim Carter and Mitch Walters purchased the club from TruPoint Bank and immediately signed a 10-year lease to Integrity Golf, a management firm based in Orlando, Fla. “Roscoe, Tim and I probably operated this golf course the shortest amount of time in history because we closed on the course yesterday at 3 o’clock and the lease was affective at 3:01,” said Walters after a July 1 news conference. “We’ll say that this was an $11 million project in the beginning, and we bought it for significantly less than that. We won’t disclose the exact amount but the whole complex has a value of $11 million.”
Integrity operates the Crockett Ridge course in Kingsport, along with 31 others nationwide. CEO Gene Garrotte said the priorities for Bristol will include a rebranding and other strategies to broaden the membership base. The Country Club at Bristol is the oldest continually operating country club in Tennessee.
