By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                A Florida family-owned business is in the preliminary stages of purchasing the former Williston Highlands Golf and Country Club.

            Cherie Jenkins, a real estate agent associated with Cookie King Realty, posted a statement on social media this week in an effort to provide insights into what was happening with the purchase and hopefully tamp down rumors.

            The rumor mill cranked up when people living on the golf course saw survey sticks. The property is being surveyed as part of the real estate purchase process. Comments began appearing on social media soon after.

            Jenkins asked the family if she could post an informational statement. The family agreed.

            “I didn’t just do that post randomly. I asked their permission to do that. I ran it by them because they don’t live here,” Jenkins said. “I saw a bunch of things being said that were not true about the golf course. The survey is in the process of being done. As soon as people saw the survey sticks, they knew something was happening. The rumor mill started churning. I saw a lot of disinformation, so I asked the family if they had any objection to me writing something factual that would put an end to all the speculation.”

            Jenkins said the buyers are checking everything involved in possibly purchasing the golf course. It’s part of the “due diligence” phase of the real estate transaction.

            “They’re doing their research. They’re checking all the things that need to be checked. It’s what a buyer does, it’s what any buyer does to make sure they are comfortable moving forward,” she said.

            The buyers want to bring the golf course back to what it was in the past, including the pool, the clubhouse, and having an area in the clubhouse for hosting events. The tennis court could be changed to a pickleball court. The golf course would be done in phases starting with the driving range and 9 holes.

            Jenkins said the buyers were interested in knowing how the community felt about what was happening.

            “I said beyond excited. They were very happy to hear that people are excited and want to be supportive. They are really looking forward to that part of it. It’s going to be a lot of hard work to get it back but to know they have the community behind them and everyone is going to be supportive, they really were happy about that,” she said.

            Jenkins said the current owner of the property is Jones Golf Management, a family-owned business.

            She said there is no absolute guarantee the property will get sold.

            “I hope it does all work out. I hope against all hope the end of the story isn’t that the deal didn’t work out and they won’t be able to close. I have to say that in any real estate deal, it’s not a done deal until it’s done and that literally could be months away,” she said.

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Enterprise Reporting June 16, 2023; Posted June 16, 2023