Optimism among area golfers is high today following Wednesday’stransfer of the Brookhaven Country Club from a trust to privateownership.

Jeff Wilson, the former owner of the Wilson Chrysler-Jeep-Dodgedealership, completed the $700,000 purchase of the club Wednesdayafternoon. The purchase includes 270 acres of property on CountryClub Road featuring an 18-hole golf course, club house, eighttennis courts, swimming pool and maintenance facilities andequipment.

“It went as smooth as it could possibly go,” Wilson said today.”Everything flowed as it should and I’m the new owner.”

Ed Norwood, the club’s pro shop manager, said the purchase wouldbe good not only for the club, but also for the community.

“I think everyone is real pleased we got a local man to buy it,”he said. “A lot of those I’ve talked to that have left are lookingto get back in.”

Jeff Henning, a lifelong member of the club and president of theBrookhaven Country Club Men’s Golf Association, agreed.

“We haven’t had anyone promoting the club for at least threeyears and we’ve lost a lot of members without anyone new to replacethem,” Henning said. “I think most of those who left with theuncertainty will be coming back in now.”

The club lost a lot of members in the past three years becauseof uncertainty in its future, Norwood said.

It has been managed by Development Specialists as part of atrust established in a lawsuit settlement. The company was hired tooversee the bidding process and disbursement of property once ownedby former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers. It has been selling offpieces of Ebbers’ property for more than a year with proceedsplaced into a fiduciary fund that will be distributed to theplaintiffs.

Ebbers was found guilty of securities fraud, conspiracy andfiling false documents with regulators, leading to the company’scollapse and costing investors and employees major financial lossesand pensions.

The country club is the last asset owned by Ebbers in LincolnCounty to be sold. Wilson became the leading bidder on the propertyearlier this month when Alcatec LLC defaulted on its June bid.

The complex situation prompted many rumors about the future ofthe club, Norwood said. Members did not know if the country clubwould continue under new ownership or be closed for otherdevelopment.

Henning said he decided to keep his membership during the ordealbecause of his personal interest in the welfare of the club and itsimportance to the community. He was delighted to see ownership passto a Brookhaven resident.

“I think Jeff’s going to bring some new energy to it,” Henningsaid. “The uncertainty surrounding the club has led to somedisrepair, but Jeff has been busy improving it.”

Wilson said he has a turf improvement plan in place and isalready making progress. He’s been working on the golf coursegrounds for the past two weeks applying fertilizer and otherchemicals to provide better grass, especially on the greens. He hasalso hired several more employees to assist in the work.

“I jokingly told someone that if the sale didn’t go through thatthey got the most expensive volunteer work I’ve ever done,” hesaid.

While Wilson has been concentrating on the immediate needs ofthe golf course, he said he has not neglected to consider otherimprovements. He will decide in the next few months whatrenovations will be done to other facilities, such as the clubhouse, and intends to begin those projects in the spring.

“It all depends on the members coming back to keep it moving ina positive direction,” he said.

Wilson will have some help from the club’s golf association,Henning said.

“We look forward to working with Jeff,” he said. “We’ll begetting with him to see what we can do this year.”

The association holds a tournament each week to raise money tofund its annual projects, but Henning said because of the future ofthe club as hazy it had not planned any major projects in the pastfew years. Now, he said, that should change.