Gaillardia Golf and

Country Club couldnt live

with the lies another day
so the sand bunkers were
the first things fixed.
This week, its the club-
house roof, long overdue
for replacement after the
unusually heavy hailstorm
of May 16, 2010.
Next to see renovations:
the insides of the 55,000-
square-foot Normandy
French-style clubhouse,
the community symbol of
Gaillardias upscale life-
style since 1999 and,
thanks to deferred mainte-
nance, its collective hand-
icap for most of the past
few years.
All it took was money
some $2 million.
Lean times
Money was lacking for
long months leading up to
Concert Golf Partners
cash purchase of the club
in far northwest Oklahoma
City from a lender and Lit-
tle Rock, Ark.-based Her-
rington Inc. early this year.
Gaillardia Golf and
Country Club, community
center for a neighborhood of
some of Oklahoma Citys
wealthiest people, was
picked up, presumably at a
bargain, as a distressed
property a troubled asset
in a deed-in-lieu-of-
foreclosure transaction.
Peter Vitali, director of
golf and vice president of
business development,
said it was the kind of in-
vestment that Concert
Golf Partners, based in
Newport Beach, Calif.,
specializes in: a cash deal
in the 11th hour made
with the intention of put-
ting more money in to
position up a place.
Concert Golf has bought
and operated more than 40
golf properties or the
loans attached to them, as
with Gaillardia since
1990, and now has seven.
The new owner consid-
ers the club its premier
property and boasts on its
Web site: Gaillardia
Country Club is the pre-
mier private club in Okla-
homa City featuring an 18-
hole Tom Kite-redesigned
Arthur Hills masterpiece
on 230 acres.
Membership in the club
northeast of Kilpatrick
Turnpike/Memorial Road
and N MacArthur Boule-
vard is at about 500, Vitali
said, counting all catego-
ries: golf, junior golf, non-
golf and corporate. In an
exclusive, gated neighbor-
hood of 300 homes, and
just 60 or so lots remain-
ing, growth among resi-
dents is limited, he said. So
Vitali said the club is
broadening its approach
with competitive initiation
fees and dues and up-
grades.
Better bunkers
New to Gaillardia is golf
pro Mark Fuller, formerly
of Oak Tree Golf and
Country Club.
And, masterpiece or
not, the course needed a
little work, Vitali said, so
golfers saw the first of the
new infusion of cash: bun-
ker rehab, under the
supervision of golf
C
BUSINESS
SATURDAY, MAY10, 2014 THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM
WORLD
Alibaba is
expanding
Alibaba has expanded into
personal finance, games,
video and other services as
it prepares for its IPO.
PAGE 3C
When Oklahoma City Thunder fans attending playoff games at Chesapeake Energy
Arena arent rooting for their team, many are using their smartphones, according to
data from AT&T. Data usage by AT&T customers at the arena during playoffs games
peaked during the final game of the first-round series against the Memphis Grizzlies
when 170 GB of data crossed AT&Ts Distributed Antenna System network. Data
usage during each of this years six home playoffs games has averaged 154 GB per
game. Thats about 28 percent higher than the usage during the final regular season
game on April 16. Those attending the most recent Thunder game Wednesday
against the Los Angeles Clippers used 148 GB, which would equate to about 425,000
social media posts with photos, AT&T said.
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Thunder fans dial up AT&T data usage
IN BRIEF
USPS POSTS
$1.9B LOSS
WASHINGTON
The U.S. Postal Ser-
vice reported a $1.9
billion loss for the
first three months of
this year and plead-
ed again Friday for
reforms to its
troubled financial
system.
The agency said
the loss for the
quarter that ended
March 31 matched
the $1.9 billion in red
ink in the same peri-
od last year and
marked the 20th
time of the last 22
quarters that it
posted a loss.
It came despite
continued cost-
cutting efforts, a 2.3
percent rise in oper-
ating revenue, in-
creased employee
productivity and
other improvements.
Were happy with
the financial pro-
gress, Postmaster
Patrick Donahoe told
reporters on a con-
ference call. Bottom
line: Unfortunately,
were still in the red
because of congres-
sionally mandated
retiree payments.
Postal officials
have said repeatedly
that they need com-
prehensive legisla-
tion that includes
more control over its
personnel and bene-
fit costs and more
flexibility in pricing
and products.
Though various
legislative proposals
have been advanced,
Congress has not
passed a bill with
the requested
changes.
The shipping and
package business
continued to rise
and operating reve-
nues were up $379
million over the
same period last
year the third
straight quarter of
revenue increase.
But there were an-
nual inflationary cost
increases and there
was a continued
decline in first-class
mail.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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GAS PRICES
AAAs average for
regular unleaded:
Friday
Week ago
Month ago
Year ago
Record
(set)
$3.663
$3.683
$3.601
$3.549
$4.114
7-17-08
$3.414
$3.455
$3.432
$3.463
$3.955
7-16-08
Nation State
MARKETS
Coverage, 5C
DOW JONES
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20.37, 4,071.87
OIL
$0.27, $99.99
NATURAL GAS
$0.041, $4.531
CATTLE
$0.60, $138.525
WHEAT
$0.13 1/2, $8.19
After selling out their
teams first two home
games at Bishop McGuin-
ness High School, the
owners of the Oklahoma
City Energy FC are already
plotting where the soccer
franchise might eventually
build a new stadium to be-
come the teams perma-
nent home.
The Energy recently
launched an online survey
for its fans, in part to gauge
interest locating the stadi-
um in downtown Oklaho-
ma City.
A new stadium could
be located in close proxim-
ity to Chesapeake Energy
Arena and the Bricktown
area with easy access from
Highway 40, one ques-
tion in the survey states.
As well, the stadium
would include many of the
modern amenities that are
common with new stadi-
ums including premium
seating areas, updated
concession areas.
The Energy does not
have a firm location cho-
sen yet, Energy co-owner
Bob Funk Jr. said. The En-
ergy has identified five po-
tential locations for its new
stadium, but wont reveal
the potential sites for
competitive reasons.
The team hopes to build
the stadium in the next
three to four years and
could eventually pursue
public money to help build
the venue.
I am in favor of some
type of public-private
partnership, because I
would like to see everyone
buy into this, Funk said.
Everyone has to buy in for
this to succeed.
The team is working
with the Massachusetts-
based construction con-
sultant CSL Consulting to
launch a feasibility study
BUSINESS WRITER
Brianna
Bailey
bbailey@
opubco.com
REAL ESTATE
Richard
Mize
Richardmize
@opubco.com
ONLINE FAN SURVEY TO EXPLORE VIABILITY OF DOWNTOWN OKC LOCATION
Energy soccer team sets
goal of building stadium
SEE ENERGY, BACK PAGE
The Gaillardia clubhouse undergoes a roof replacement at Gaillardia Golf and Country Club.
PHOTOS BY PAUL B. SOUTHERLAND, THE OKLAHOMAN
SEE CLUB, PAGE 2C
PROPRIETORS SET NEW
COURSE FOR GAILLARDIA
A bunker on the first hole is renovated with Pro/An-
gle bunker sand at Gaillardia Golf and Country Club.
The U.S. trophy-home
market is shattering price
records this year as an in-
creasing number of resi-
dential properties change
hands for more than $100
million.
Barry Rosenstein, foun-
der of hedge fund Jana
Partners, has purchased an
18-acre beachfront prop-
erty in East Hampton,
N.Y., for $147 million, ac-
cording to the New York
Post. That would break the
U.S. single-family price
record of $120 million set
last month with the sale of
a Greenwich, Conn., wa-
terfront estate on 51 acres.
In Los Angeles, a 50,000-
square-foot home sold in
February for $102 million
in cash after a bidding war.
The worlds richest peo-
ple are moving cash to real
estate as they seek havens
for their wealth. In the
U.S., an improving econo-
my and stocks at a record
high are boosting confi-
dence among the affluent.
Home purchases of $2 mil-
lion or more jumped 33
percent in January and
February from a year earli-
er to the highest level for
the two-month period in
data going back to 1988,
according to an analysis by
DataQuick.
Last year the stock
market broke all kinds of
records and when that
happens, youre going to
see art and resort real es-
tate break all kinds of re-
cords, said Judi Desiderio,
chief executive officer of
Town & Country Real Es-
tate in East Hampton.
Rosenstein bought the
estate on Further Lane in
East Hampton, near the
mansions of Jerry Seinfeld
and Steven Cohen, with-
out the help of a broker,
Homes
topping
$100M
smash
records
BY PRASHANT GOPAL
Bloomberg News
SEE LUXURY, BACK PAGE
ONLINE
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go to NewsOK.com
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video.
ONLINE
Scan the QR code or
go to NewsOK.com
to view a related
video.