Applause, Tears for Waverly Oaks Closing
Hollywood East to Purchase Esteemed Course in November for $16.5 Million for
Plymouth Rock Studios

Waverly Oaks Golf Club is closing, Plymouth Rock Studios Opening

Plymouth Rock Studios to open...

PLYMOUTH: Mention Waverly Oaks Golf Club, and anyone who's ever purchased a sleeve of Titleists, laced up a pair of Foot-Joys and checked in with a starter at one of New England's 650-public golf courses will offer fond, sincere applause for the 7,114-yard Brian Silva-designed, par-72 layout, that opened in 1998 as one of the first upscale public golfing facilities.

Golf entrepreneurs Mark Ridder, and his father, Richard, had a vision in 1996, at the beginning of the Tiger-boom, to build an upscale, public golf facility that caters to "John Q. Public" golfer. Their vision turned into reality when Waverly Oaks Golf Club opened in 1998, featuring first-class service and playing conditions, comparable to many private clubs. Although, at the time, the greens fee were high ($60), it was what the public wanted, and Waverly Oaks has whetted the golf appetite of tens of thousands of players over the past 12 years.

Waverly Oaks Golf Club has received nothing but praise from critics, skeptics and valued golf opinions since it opened. The walls of Waverly are lined with certificates of acclaim ranging from Golf Magazine and Golfweek, to the Boston Sports Review, which ranked Waverly Oaks as the No. 1 public golf course in Massachusetts in September 2005.

Now, golf aficionados, if you haven't heard the bad news: Waverly Oaks Golf Club is closing forever on November 1! Thanks for the great golf memories!

Plymouth Rock Studios, a/k/a Hollywood East, is purchasing the magnificent 242-acre property in Plymouth , which includes 5,000 feet of frontage on Route 3 South. The Ridder family will pocket $16.5 million. The deal will close on or about November 6, 2009. And, Ridder is holding a non-refundable, seven-figure deposit, if the Hollywood East tycoons decide to walk away from the deal.

"It's been an emotional year," stated Mark Ridder, while sitting pensively in his disheveled office, part of the two-story 22,000 square foot clubhouse, which also hosts 40 weddings annually. "It's a bittersweet ending to a lifelong dream I've had, and to think it's all coming to an end is sad. Along the way, we set some lofty goals for a public golf course facility, and I think we met or exceeded expectations."

Indeed, the New England golf community will miss Waverly Oaks when it closes to Plymouth Rock Studios. The breathtaking, dramatic, uphill, par-3 seventeenth hole (called Black Hole) is one of those golf holes that you place once, and will always remember. Waverly Oaks' 100 employees will be looking for work elsewhere in the golf, food and beverage and banquet function business. However, Ridder is optimistic that some of his employees will be offered work at the movie studio. He plans to remain in the golf business, since his entire life has revolved around golf, with his family owning Ridder Golf Course (Whitman) since 1960. Whatever Ridder does after November, he will walk away from Waverly Oaks a very wealthy man, and it was not without some blood, sweat, hard work and now, some tears. Ridder stated that golf course was never for sale, and that the buyer's put an offer for Plymouth Rock Studios on his table that he could not refuse.

"Building this course and overseeing the operation of it on a daily basis for 14 years has been a challenge," said Ridder, who had complimentary things to say about the future owners and how smooth the transition has gone so far. "This is the end of something special and the beginning of a new career in golf course consulting for me. Since I have a lifetime of experience in running a golf course, I formed a consulting company called Waverly Golf Group. And, I look forward to growing that business since I've dealt with every type problem you can imagine from A-Z. Come April, when the golf season begins, it will be a different feeling for me."

Plymouth Rock Studios (www.plymouthrockstudios.com) will invest $400 million to build a film and television digital studio that will include 14 sound stages, and a 10-acre back lot, plus production offices, facilities, theater and amenity village. Instead of golf next April, construction will dominate the once plush fairways and greens of Waverly Oaks throughout 2011. According to project director, Brad Soule, about 1,500 high income jobs are likely and he predicts the ripple effect of the project when completed will be a huge economic impact on the entire South Shore economy. Plymouth Rock Studios, owned & operated by David Kirkpatrick and Earl Lestz, former Paramount Pictures executives, and Bill Wynne, a West Coast real estate developer/investor, will be the largest film and television studio complex in the northeastern United States .

"This is a tough time for Mark Ridder and his staff," said Brad Soule, who indicated the Plymouth Rock Studios master plan calls for four 24,000 square foot soundstage studios will be situated on what is now the back-to-back par-5 fourth and fifth holes. "I asked Mark when we take over, 'Are you going to cry?' and he got a little teary eyed already. Mark has taken great pride in Waverly Oaks Golf Club and he was a pioneer in bringing upscale public golf to this area. I think the reason Mark has been successful in the golf business is because he is so passionate."

(Tom Gorman, a Boston-based freelance golf writer, is a member of Golf Writers Association of America , Golf Travel Writers Association and International Network of Golf. He can be reached by email.)

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