WEBVTT - Forest Dunes: How an Arkansas trucker found golf gold in Michigan 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:06.760 Little history on this place. William Durant, the founder General Motors. 0:00:07.680 --> 0:00:10.600 This was his ranch. They called it the South Prince 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:16.960 Ranch Okay. And then in the early thirties gm got 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:21.479 in financial trouble and he sold his ranch to the 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:25.000 Purple Game mob de trump Mom Sometime in the late 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:28.280 thirties and forties where the lodge is, they had a 0:00:28.320 --> 0:00:33.720 big stable, big barn with indoor arenas, had swimming pools, 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:37.800 and they guarded this with machine guns. This is where 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:41.640 the mobsters brought all their family to vacation, ride their 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:45.199 horses and and hang out. We have pictures at the 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:48.920 clubhouse where the FBI come in and dug around and 0:00:49.000 --> 0:01:01.200 looking for half of put another log. Nobody here is 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:09.560 in time. Welcome to the fire Pit with Matt Jonella. 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:14.440 Welcome back to the fire Pit. Today is special because 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:16.959 it's the first time we're recording the fire Pit podcast 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:20.200 sitting around an actual fire pit, which is at four St. 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:23.880 Dunes in ross Common, Michigan. That first voice you heard, 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:26.560 given a brief history of the land is Lou Thompson, 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:29.320 the current owner of for Students, which is of course 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:32.080 about three hours north of Detroit and a little over 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:35.600 an hour east of Traverse City. The story we tell 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:38.480 today is how and why Lou Thompson bought Forest Students, 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:41.520 and then how he has made this remote location a 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:45.080 legitimate destination. Heck, even his wife has been known to 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:47.960 ask him, what does a trucker from Arkansas know about 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:51.520 managing golf? Well, he knows enough to have a record 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:54.560 breaking three thirty seven golfers. On the day we taped 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:58.120 this podcast, we sat around the pit with Thompson, who's 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:01.520 sixty two, Josh Tom and Blue Sun and business partner, 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:03.800 and there was an extended group of family and friends 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:09.400 who listened in it. We start in shortly after parting 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:12.800 ways with Jay Morrish, Tom Weiscoff built the original nineteen 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:15.520 holes at four Students, which sits in the northern middle 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:18.360 of the Michigan Mitten and neighbors the her On National Forest. 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:22.280 I spoke to Weiscoff to get his reflections on this project. 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:30.640 It was initially a private, exclusive experience and maybe that's 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:35.040 what the downfall was. You know, there wasn't enough transition 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:41.919 into that area from the standpoint of need to play golf. Um, 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:44.919 but it had a tremendous piece of property. Man, You're 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:48.360 I've said this forever. You're only as good as your 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:53.640 piece of property, and the ownership commitment behind that. Shortly 0:02:53.680 --> 0:02:57.040 after the course was completed, the original owners defaulted on 0:02:57.080 --> 0:03:00.680 the loans and the course was dormant. Now long after that. 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:03.600 Then Detroit Carpenter's pension fund took ownership of the course 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:06.640 and they reopened it in two thousand two. They added 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:09.400 a clubhouse in two thousand four, but there was no lodging. 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:13.400 Some came to play, no one ever stayed. The maintenance 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:15.400 crew told me that back in the mid two thousand's, 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:18.000 on a busy day, they had twenty on the t sheet. 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:21.520 I found the course in while writing a story for 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:25.560 Golf Digest on the Best of Michigan Golf, Forest Dunes 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:28.239 was impossible to find. I ended up on dirt roads, 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:30.400 and I'm not sure I took a wrong turn, But 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:33.120 by the time we reached the fourteenth green, my friends 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:34.560 and I had our phones out and we were trying 0:03:34.560 --> 0:03:37.640 to see if we could play it again. Forest Dunes 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:42.560 defined hidden gem. Here's more from Weisskoff. They had all 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:46.160 the things that I wanted to absolutely have done if 0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:48.800 I could do it and was allowed to do it, 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:54.720 And consequently, you know, people, UH really enjoy it. I 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:58.880 get a lot of common comments uh and compliments from 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:02.800 that particular golf course. So that makes me happy. That's 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:06.600 all I'm looking for. I had enough controversy as a player, Matt, 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:10.640 so I don't need any more. So just to recap, 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:15.080 Forest Tunes is one thousand acres neighboring her On National Forest, 0:04:15.320 --> 0:04:18.320 only minutes from what they call the Holy Waters of 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:22.560 the Ossable River, which offers world class fishing. And as 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:24.760 for the golf, Wi Scoff told me it's one of 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:28.000 the best public courses in his seventy three course portfolio. 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:31.360 And yet as it related to the original business model, 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:34.240 its struggled. I guess I wouldn't be doing this podcast 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:36.479 if it was still struggling. But before we get to 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:38.840 the success that's having now, you need to hear about 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:42.080 the beginning of Lou Thompson and Sun Trucking from Lou Thompson, 0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:46.600 who in three started hauling turkeys for butter Ball out 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:50.039 of an office in Huntsville, Arkansas that Thompson described as 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:54.720 a phone booth years ago, about one truck who had 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:58.440 a small turkey company in Huntsville, Arkansas, and what to 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:02.880 hauland U product form. They kind of tucked me under 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:06.000 their wing, like me, and it just kind of grew 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:08.280 from there. And now, how many trucks do you have? 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:13.040 But we've got a little two hundred. We run oh 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:17.000 fourteen million miles and that's fourteen million miles on two 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:22.400 lane roads. Because we all water short stuff. We move 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:29.080 somewhere between two thousand and twenty loads of week. Thompson 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:31.960 will tell you he worked seven days a week, almost 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:35.480 every day of the year. He's a smoker, and a 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:37.800 life on the road means you're ordering from the menus 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:41.520 with a lot of pages and even more calories. When 0:05:41.560 --> 0:05:44.520 obviously my mid forties, had a real bad heart attack 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:50.280 and the doctor told me I was going to quite 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:52.640 working as much as I was, and I needed to 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:59.440 start exercising and doing other things, um, besides working, and 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:02.479 go on a whole lot of options where I lived 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:06.680 and I never played, Like I said, I never even 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:10.120 had a golf club. And every time I turned around, 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:13.320 I was a little embarrassed because some people I did 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:15.800 business with what always calling to, how would you go 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:17.479 on a golf trip with this? How about let's go 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:21.200 play golf? Well I can't, you know, I don't know 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:27.400 how for one, I've never played, so um, after I 0:06:27.400 --> 0:06:29.200 had the heart attack, I thought, well, this is the 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:33.520 time for me to take up golf. And so I'm 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:37.320 like everyone else, I got the golf bug. So uh 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:43.279 every evening after work. Um, after about a month, we 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:45.479 didn't have to over the yard because there was no grass, 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:47.320 you know, how to wore all the graps up in 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:51.200 the yard chipping. In two thousand ten, Thompson was offered 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:55.280 an opportunity to buy into the Bridges struggling golf development 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:58.919 in Montrose, Colorado. You know, I really thought it was 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:01.160 a great deal at them because you bought it for 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:05.440 ten cents on the dollar. H it was a good deal. 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:07.919 But it was a great deal. It's really tough to 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:13.640 make a golf course work, especially a standalone golf course. Uh. 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:16.880 I didn't know that when I bought it. Ah. But 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:18.840 the good thing about it had a lot of real 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:21.040 estate with it, a lot of lots, and that's a 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:24.280 good play. The golf wasn't, but the real estate was. 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:29.400 The phone year, Thompson gets another opportunity to buy more golf. 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:33.120 How I got to find out about this place. The 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:37.680 guy that was running Bridges was a guy they named 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:41.480 of Rocky Papa Check. And when I bought it, he 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:45.280 left and he worked for Trim Golf and they transferred 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:49.679 him here to Force Tins and he became the gym 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:55.800 and Force Tins and uh then Inleven he calls me 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:59.440 one day and asked me how things are going to 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:03.600 callad and said, you know, and said, would you be 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:09.480 interested in another golf course? And uh, soil, how good 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:12.920 is it? Is? It? Really good? And he's soil in 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:15.520 my opinion, you know, trend managers too. In your golf course, 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:18.320 it's probably you know, if it's not the best, it's 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:21.720 in the top five if anything that trends. God wis 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:23.760 Cuff again on the canvas he had to work with. 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:28.240 You know, it's an exceptional piece of property. It's a 0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:33.920 combination of Rowley Sandy Dunes, which is entirely mostly on 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:37.800 the back nine itself, and then the front nine has 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:43.960 some water, natural water ponds, wetlands and reenters through the 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:50.640 pines and the deciduous maples, oaks, that kind of thing. 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:55.160 So it's a striking contrast, especially in the fall back 0:08:55.200 --> 0:08:58.080 to Thompson's call with Papa Check, he said, I think 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:00.880 it's something if you're interested, you need to kind of 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:05.160 look at it. Uh, and that's well what I want 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:09.680 for It's why I don't know. But Uh, there's federal 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:13.320 agents here. You know, they're claiming out foul cabinets. You know, 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:19.080 there's a lot of problems here. And uh, its own 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:24.200 pension fund. Uh, they're not happy with it. They went out. 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:29.000 Uh it says it's not doing any good at all. 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:34.160 It's you know, just no play. Ah. He didn't tell 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:36.640 me how much he was lazing. He just said it 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:39.959 was good good. As of late last year, the Detroit 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:43.280 Carpenter's pension fund has been investigated for what the Detroit 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:46.120 Free Press referred to as a hundred million dollars of 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:50.559 quote risky investments and real estate deals across Michigan and 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:53.800 as far away as Hawaii. Now back to lou Thompson 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:56.560 in two thousand eleven, was still on the phone with 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:59.880 Papa check. He said, that's that manager told me the 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:05.080 sweet they're going to sell it sweet. And so he said, 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:07.200 you knew, really, if you've got any interest, you need 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:10.160 to come now, because he said, I think they're serious 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:15.160 about selling it. Thompson was interested, but definitely skeptical. I've 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:18.480 never heard of four students. I've never been in Michigan. 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:21.720 I tried to find some stuff on it. You couldn't 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:25.679 find anything on it. Um, I was kind of bored 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:27.839 regular of the house. I thought, well, this catch me 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:30.000 a fly and go look at it. Forest Dunes is 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:32.840 on the scale of sand Hills, Nebraska in terms of remote. 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:37.480 Probably best to arrive and depart by day. Stop three 0:10:37.480 --> 0:10:43.160 times between Traverse City and four St. Dunes and called 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:47.920 in and said, you know, Rocky, yeah, I'm lost or something, 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:51.600 because you know, you're telling me this is some high 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:54.960 party the lake golf course. You know, I said, I 0:10:54.960 --> 0:10:57.960 ain't seen ship out here that I called about a 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:00.760 mall before I got to the draw and said, you 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:03.720 know I'm not in the rob Oh yeah, you keep coming, 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:07.240 keep coming, you'll see a sign that says turned left. 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:11.280 And so anyway, when I pulled through the guard check, 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:14.520 you know, the guard chack kind of impressed me. You know, 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:16.760 I thought, well, you know, this pretty nice entrance here, 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:21.680 so maybe there's something in here. Then I drove around 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:25.079 and got to the clubhouse. You understand, this is in 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:28.040 eleven and everything is pretty much new. And I mean 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:33.200 that was about probably twenty cars in the parking lot. 0:11:33.400 --> 0:11:37.160 Nineteen I was employees cars, you know, because there was 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:40.640 two people here that day playing golf. This was shortly 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:43.560 after I'd been on property. The course had a reputation 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:46.760 for being an immaculate condition, which isn't hard to do 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:51.040 when there's no play. Parked and walked in and Rocky 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:54.720 met me, and you know, and I was kind of 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:57.560 overwhelmed at the clubhouse, and especially when I come to 0:11:57.600 --> 0:11:59.880 the back windows and looked out and seeing the sand. 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:04.320 I wasn't expecting. That was the biggest surprise to me, 0:12:04.400 --> 0:12:06.320 to see all the natural sand. You know, I didn't 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:09.319 even know Michigan had sing you know in natural sand 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:15.320 at that uh. And I told Rocky, you know, taking 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:16.960 me a cheer of the golf course. He's, well, I'm 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:18.600 gonna cheer you the whole thing. That's why I made 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:20.120 the whole thing. He said, well, we got three D 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:23.079 and fifty lots here. There's five houses, there's they're not 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:25.520 whoa whoa, you know, Rocky, I've actually just had a 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:28.319 golf course up here. Oh no, they want to sell everything. 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:31.719 Thompson knew right away he didn't truck enough turkeys to 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:35.680 buy four students didn't play golf. This road around. It's 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:39.560 been about three hours, had lunch, took a few pictures, 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:44.160 drawback Traverse City. We caught a plane home and you know, 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:47.400 I knew when I got here, and he want to 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:49.600 tell me whether they want to sell all the five houses. 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:53.920 I want to sell everything. Uh that I didn't have 0:12:54.040 --> 0:12:58.440 enough you know, powder for this deal. So you know, 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:00.520 I just kind of walked the White Bank and it's old. 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:04.920 The company is lou Thompson and Son Trucking. Son is 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:11.640 Josh Thompson. Next morning, Uh, I went to work. I know, 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:14.160 I went in my son's office and he said, how 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:17.120 did the deal going? I said, well, you know, pretty 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:22.160 fascinating place, but that's you know, I thought I was 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:24.240 going to get something like I got at the Bridges. 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:26.960 You know what, you're three million dollar deal and I 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:29.240 want to tell you there's five homes up here, there's 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:32.440 three hundred fifty lots, there's you know, world class golf 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:38.080 course and this phenomenal clubhouse and start I said, this 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:41.520 is out of my powder range. So you know, it's 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:44.800 pretty much older. Josh Thompson, who is now the president, 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:48.200 started with the company in his early twenties starts telling me, 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:50.640 you know that there's there's five homes and three hundred 0:13:50.679 --> 0:13:53.840 lots and acres. And I said, you know, there's just 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:55.640 no way you can. I mean, you're not even gonna 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:58.280 come close. You're wasting your time, you know. And he said, well, 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:00.480 you never know what what's under rock and you turned 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:05.040 over about ten thirty year eleven. That morning, Uh, that 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:09.240 I got home, I got a call from an asset 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:14.320 manager for the pension fund and uh, he told me 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:16.160 who he was and said, Hi, I just got off 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:20.160 the phone with Rocky. Rocky told me, you know you 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:22.880 who he was there. Come looked at it yesterday and 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:27.400 he was very impressed with the place. And he said, 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:30.400 you know, we're not in the golf course business, and 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:33.120 we've tried to run it for a few years. We 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:35.680 don't know what we're doing. It's not working for us. 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:42.040 We want out. And uh, you know, he said, I 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.440 do you really like the property? And so yeah, it's 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:46.760 it's awesome. But as I can tell you right now, 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:49.760 I had no idea what it was when I went 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:53.680 up there, or I wouldn't went up there because it's 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:56.640 not something that I'm gonna be able to buy and 0:14:56.760 --> 0:15:00.640 he said, here's what I'd like to know. He said, 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:03.280 you know, that's what's that? And he said, what would 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:06.320 you pay me today for their property and take over 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:09.720 to more? And I said, pay you today and take 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:13.800 over to more. He said yeah, and that's well, I 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:18.160 don't know. I'd have to give that some thought and uh. 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:20.320 He said, well think about that and I'll call you back. 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:23.240 And so I hung up, and that's when I walked 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:25.720 back into Josh said, hey, you're gonna blae this, but 0:15:25.800 --> 0:15:29.880 that pension fund manager called and you know, I'm gonna 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:32.840 make you me damn offer, you know. But before he 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:36.000 could make that offer, we went looking for a little backup. 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:39.320 And I had a friend who's in the banking business, 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:42.640 and I had at the time a couple of million 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:46.200 dollars and so I called Sam and asked him and 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:48.400 I said, hey, I went looking a piece of property. 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:52.560 You know, no way're not gonna get it bought. But 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:55.480 I was going to throw with them lowball offer and 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:59.640 see he said, is it goodness? Oh yeah, I said, 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:01.560 you gotta couple extra me and he said yeah, And 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:06.880 just to make him an offer. About twelve thirty, Anthony 0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:11.040 calls me back and says, how Mr Thompson, He said, 0:16:11.120 --> 0:16:16.000 you know, have you thought about it? You know? I said, yeah, 0:16:16.360 --> 0:16:19.080 I said, I'll give you four million dollars cash today 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:24.680 and take ordmor boy pisted him off, you know, and 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:27.200 I mean he started kind of chining my ass out, 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:31.080 you know, link fucking taking you know, four million dollars. 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:33.800 I mean, we got fifty five million dollars invested. You know. 0:16:33.880 --> 0:16:36.560 Did you not look me? Yeah? I mean hey, I said, 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:39.640 wait a minute, you know, don't be checking my ass out. 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:45.000 You know. You called me and asked me what i'd 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:48.720 give you for the property, and I told you then 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:51.520 I didn't have the powder. And I said, I got 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:54.960 four million dollars today. That's all I got. If that 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:57.240 ain't good enough, you don't forget it. I don't care. 0:16:57.800 --> 0:16:59.840 I go back in Josh's office. I said, well, i'll 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:03.520 it's had a boy off, you know. But in Josh 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:05.959 that's funny, said, but Dad, I keep telling you you're 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:08.800 wasting your time, you know, going thinking you're going to 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.600 steal this stuff for nothing. You know, if it's from 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:13.760 the pictures, I know you wouldn't gonna buy it anyway, 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:16.000 So you know, go back to work and leave it alone. 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:19.200 Let's get back now. Well, we know it can make 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:24.680 some money. About thirty mat Slider, he calls me back 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:29.560 from the pitching front and he said, you know, miss Thompson, 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:33.440 He said, you know, we really need to sell that property, 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:38.359 and you like the property and you're a candidate to 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:42.280 buy the property. And he said, you know, we would 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:45.040 like to have a conference call with some of the 0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:48.960 asset managers and other people and see if there's some 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:51.480 way we can work something out. And he said, you know, 0:17:52.119 --> 0:17:54.680 would you be open to a conference call with some 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:58.680 different people? You know? It's okay? So I give me emailing. 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:02.760 About thirty minutes later, he sends me this link, you know, 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:05.639 along with what were the nine or ten other names 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:08.800 on it than the name on there I could pronounce 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:17.440 her say you know, so no, no, and uh yeah, 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:21.120 because you know we're a little country. And so then 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:24.080 I go back in Josh's office. I, hey, son, guess 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:27.520 what on a conference call in thirty minutes to an hour? 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:30.080 You know, you know you gotta come in my office. 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:32.760 It at two thirty I got this call, you know 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:37.040 with the with the masset managers and he's back to 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:39.520 do it. Ain't I ain't got time, you know, I'm working, 0:18:39.640 --> 0:18:44.440 you know whatever. And then about five minutes for the call, 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:47.920 Josh comes in my office. She knows we've got to 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:51.879 speak her phone on and we doll in, you know, 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:55.960 of course, ding. We introduced ourselves. And then there's all 0:18:56.040 --> 0:19:00.400 this dinging, you know, everyone's introducing theirselfs just ding ding 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:04.359 ding ding, you know. And we're sitting there and and 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:08.520 this Anthony keeps asking, hey, Tony's at you. And finally 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:12.320 after this is so and so, and after about the 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:17.080 seventh or eighth guy comes on the phone. He said, 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:19.359 Tony's at you. And he said no, no, he said, 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:21.800 Tony said to start without him. He'll he'll join you 0:19:21.840 --> 0:19:24.440 here in a few minutes. Anyway, everyone's on the call. 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:29.520 We're sitting there, and the asset manager he's telling everyone 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:32.639 how Mr Thompson has been to the property, he's looked 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:37.080 at it. He really likes it, you know. Uh, we 0:19:37.160 --> 0:19:39.960 want to sell it. We went out of it. Uh. 0:19:41.119 --> 0:19:43.440 He's there some low ass offer at us at four 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:48.080 million dollars that we can't consider. But since he locks it, 0:19:48.359 --> 0:19:50.440 I felt, we felt I'll get together. We might come 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:53.800 up with some way we could work out something and 0:19:53.840 --> 0:19:57.240 he said, you know how you what about would you 0:19:57.280 --> 0:20:01.080 give us four million dollars for half interstanding and we'd 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:05.359 be silent partners and uh, you just go run and 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:07.720 take care of it and we'd be you know, silent 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:10.720 partners and give us four million dollars. That's well, they 0:20:10.720 --> 0:20:13.840 ain't gonna work. Uh, you know, first of all, I 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:15.920 don't want to pay me into our fourth second, already 0:20:16.000 --> 0:20:18.880 got one partner to buy it anyway, and don't want 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:21.439 you know, another bunch of partners. So that's not gonna happen, 0:20:22.760 --> 0:20:27.560 you know. And he said, well, what about you know, 0:20:28.320 --> 0:20:31.960 you give us eight million dollars and place four million 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:34.400 down and we'll find it stuff for me work at 0:20:34.400 --> 0:20:37.720 any kind of times you want. You know, now that's 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:40.600 not gonna work either, because you know it. You know, 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:46.040 that's just not gonna work. And about that time, Dean, 0:20:46.440 --> 0:20:50.280 you know, the phone goes ding again. He said, tis 0:20:50.320 --> 0:20:53.760 like yeah, he said, where the hell you have that 0:20:53.800 --> 0:20:58.480 golf course? You know? And he swelled, you know, Mr Thompson, 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:02.159 you know he's tell just Tony, Well, Mr Thompson come 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:05.439 in yesterday, looked at it, loved it, you know. But 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:09.320 he threw something a little four million dollar offer on us. 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:12.679 You know that we can't even look at you know, 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:18.159 and uh and he said, hey, Anthon, what the fox today? 0:21:19.920 --> 0:21:22.640 He saw? What's thursdy? Do you remember what I told 0:21:22.680 --> 0:21:26.280 you Monday. I don't give a funk who you sell 0:21:26.320 --> 0:21:28.360 it to or what you sell it for. I want 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:34.200 to subits fucking sold by Friday. And click in my 0:21:34.240 --> 0:21:36.840 mouth at the floor. I'm just sitting there, going I 0:21:36.920 --> 0:21:39.640 didn't just has them. I mean it's quiet. I mean, 0:21:40.240 --> 0:21:43.560 no one's saying a word, you know, you know, we're 0:21:43.560 --> 0:21:46.840 just sitting there. I'm kind of stunned. And then Anthony said, 0:21:47.040 --> 0:21:52.080 you know, Lou, would you consider seven million today? I said, 0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:59.680 I think I'm good where I'm at that And he said, well, 0:22:01.119 --> 0:22:04.200 I don't think we can work out anything, but um, 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:06.080 we'll get off here and we'll talk and we'll get 0:22:06.119 --> 0:22:09.239 back ways. You lighter today. You called me back at 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:11.639 four o'clock and tell me to wire the money in 0:22:11.680 --> 0:22:15.119 the morning at nine o'clock and put it in an 0:22:15.280 --> 0:22:19.840 escrow and takes over the next tag. And that's what 0:22:19.960 --> 0:22:25.080 we did. Just how good was this deal? He said? 0:22:25.119 --> 0:22:28.159 They had fifty five million dollars in the project. You know, 0:22:28.320 --> 0:22:31.120 getty or do you not? I don't know, don't care. 0:22:31.880 --> 0:22:35.320 What exactly did Thompson get for his four million dollars? Well, 0:22:35.359 --> 0:22:39.439 I got dart acres at that was the five homes 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:41.480 that they built out here. I got the homes, I 0:22:41.520 --> 0:22:44.160 got the clubhouse, I got the moments, I got old equipment, 0:22:45.000 --> 0:22:49.679 you know, and uh, you know, and really, you know, 0:22:49.800 --> 0:22:53.000 I knew it was a goodbye on the property. What 0:22:53.160 --> 0:22:55.240 I did know that I had to come back and 0:22:55.240 --> 0:22:58.560 tell my wife a couple of days later, is just 0:22:59.359 --> 0:23:03.359 how's it doing? As well? You know, it's uh October 0:23:03.400 --> 0:23:05.480 and it's lost one point two million dollars this year. 0:23:08.240 --> 0:23:11.240 That was a little tough for her, you know. And 0:23:11.320 --> 0:23:13.480 you know one of the things you told me as well, 0:23:14.240 --> 0:23:16.400 I know the lands of worth that. But you know 0:23:16.680 --> 0:23:20.960 what makes you think you're a trucker? You go to 0:23:21.080 --> 0:23:26.200 Michigan who've never been and take over a golf operation 0:23:26.960 --> 0:23:30.480 and make it work when you've got professionals up there 0:23:30.600 --> 0:23:33.280 that's losing one point two million dollars running it, and 0:23:33.320 --> 0:23:36.240 I sway, yeah, but they don't realize what they got, 0:23:37.480 --> 0:23:39.560 and they're trying to run it as a private club. 0:23:39.920 --> 0:23:43.320 And I think if it's opened up to the public 0:23:44.119 --> 0:23:47.920 and I offer more things. You know that I'm gonna 0:23:47.960 --> 0:23:51.840 get more than twenty rounds a day because people does 0:23:51.880 --> 0:23:54.360 not realize it's a hidden gym. How good it is. 0:23:55.280 --> 0:23:57.920 Under new ownership, lou Thompson dove in and started trying 0:23:57.920 --> 0:24:00.960 to figure out how to fix the issues. People started 0:24:01.080 --> 0:24:05.199 coming to four Stints to play golf. Everybody loved the golf, 0:24:05.960 --> 0:24:08.440 but they'd pull up in the parking lot, get their 0:24:08.480 --> 0:24:11.720 clubs through it on a cart, go play around to golf, 0:24:12.760 --> 0:24:14.720 and then they'd grabbed their bag and they'd run to 0:24:14.760 --> 0:24:19.120 their car. Uh. Never come into the pro shop, never 0:24:19.200 --> 0:24:22.960 come into the lodge, you know. So you know I'm 0:24:22.960 --> 0:24:24.920