McLamb claims the Links Group forfeited the lease agreement by defaulting on its monthly payment. He has already brought in the behemoth, yet well respected Burroughs and Chapin to take over operations at Farmstead, the Meadowlands, and his other courses. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes something like this to happen for us to wake up and smell the rotting bentgrass. We are a society known for handing out second chances, and the Links Group is no exception. The company came charging out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August by fooling the U.S. Court with some smoke and mirrors expansion plan. Company president Ken Folkes told his creditors not to worry, an infusion of millions of dollars on the way from a limited liability company called MemberTee Management.
A few million from an LLC was going to clear this up and get the Links Group’s reorganization plan underway? Turns out, it could be a moot point because the money has not even surfaced. The same court that bought the expansion plan tee, divot tool and golf glove, was sold on an extension earlier this month, giving the Links Group and MemberTee until Dec. 17 to come up with the money. I’d like to see the Vegas odds on them making that deadline. In a column a few weeks ago, we questioned the Links Group’s strategy of expanding its course base while recovering from bankruptcy. Admittedly, we are in the golf and travel business, not the golf course operation business.
The answer, it turns out, is simple. Read the fine print and you discover that Folkes and MemberTee president Cal Rogers are paid by the golf hole, and that crazy expansion plan begins to make sense. Rogers and Folkes already make about $150,000 a piece, according to the court papers, but before they clean up their existing cart barn, they are already looking for ways to make more money. It is the kind of ridiculous plot you might expect to find in an old Scooby Doo episode, where the villains are trying to get away with some obvious skullduggery, until “those meddling kids” finally expose them. But this even makes less sense. The Links Group planned to take over the leases of up to 20 golf courses, including some additional courses in the Grand Strand. But to botch the entire comeback plan on courses No. 1 and 2 when so many others await just makes no sense, unless you are just flat broke. And if Folkes and Rogers really wanted to start eliminating debt, why wouldn’t they take major paycuts until the company(ies) was out of the cellar? Now everyone is in a pinch. The Links Group owes so much money, no one really wants to see Folkes just disappear because as long as he and Rogers are around, there is some hope that someone will get paid what they are owed. But no one really wants them around, because these are hard times for the travel industry, and Myrtle Beach is ALL about the travel industry, and this whole thing is one big black eye that won’t go away. What to do, what to do?
Just ask Mr. McLamb. Shane Sharp is a Contributing Writer with TravelGolf.com. Contact him at sharp@travelgolf.com.
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But
wait a minute. Folkes (at right) and his cronies owe millions
of dollars. They owe the Bank of America, they owe Myrtle
Beach Golf Holiday, they owe the golf cart maker, and
they probably owe any and everyone that has ever come
into contact with them. 
If
you own a golf course anywhere within arms reach of this
company, it’s simple. Run the place yourself, or
get someone with a proven track record and a clean slate
to run it for you. 
Man O'War