The Gillette Ridge Golf Club in Bloomfield, Conn., has closed after months of speculation that it would shut down following a bankruptcy filing last year.
A person familiar with the situation said the course will probably reopen but there is not timetable for it’s return.
The phone number listed on the facility’s website is no longer in service, according to a recording. According to multiple sources, the golf course is in abysmal condition, especially multiple greens that have large dead areas.
George Connor, a heralded teaching professional who had worked out of Gillette Ridge for a number of years, announced today on Twitter and that he had given his first lesson at his new location, Farmington Woods Country Club in Avon, Conn. Connor has been the Connecticut Section PGA of the Teacher of the Year two times.
The Gillette Ridge course anchors the Greens at Gillette Ridge real estate development.
According to a Sept. 1, 2014 story on HartfordBusiness.com, MDM Golf of Gillette Ridge, LLC, which owns the course, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August of 2014 . MDM is owned by former club professional and Connecticut resident Matt Menchetti.
“Cigna filed foreclosure against Menchetti’s Bloomfield course over its failure to make payments on a $4.5 million mortgage,” reads the story
“The property in question — the Gillette Ridge Golf Course — is on Cigna’s Bloomfield campus. The insurer sold Menchetti’s business the property and financed the deal. When it filed for foreclosure, Cigna said Menchetti’s company still owed $3.9 million on the loan.
“There are 25 listed creditors in the filings, including New York’s TCF Equipment Finance, which provides loans for golf carts and other vehicles. The two biggest creditors were Cigna, which is owed $3.5 million, and FPJ Investments of Hamden, which is owed $2.9 million.”
The Arnold Palmer design opened in 2004 to lukewarm reviews. It held a Symetra Tour event in the mid 2000s. In 2008, the course was purchased by MDM Golf Enterprises. Based in Connecticut, MDM managed and owned a number of golf facilities in the central part of the state, but ran into considerable trouble for such alleged transgressions as breach of contract and unpaid bills. MDM was forced out of managing two golf courses owned by the city of Hartford and the city of East Hartford terminated Manchetti’s contract for running it’s golf course. MDM was sued by the City of Hartford in 2014. The town of Woodbridge also sued MDM.
According to the HartfordBusiness.com story, “MDM Golf Enterprises LLC managed five municipal golf courses in Hartford, East Hartford, Glastonbury, and Woodbridge, while owning and operating courses in Hamden, Bloomfield and North Branford.
It now appears that Laurel View Country Club in Hamden, where Menchetti started, is his only remaining facility that his company owns or manages .
