Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, October 5, 1993                   TAG: 9310050040
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HOT SPRINGS                                LENGTH: Medium

HOMESTEAD'S NEW OWNERSHIP BEGINS WITH BIG GOLF DREAMS

"It all looks so good," said Robert H. Dedman Sr.

Another company official said The Homestead was "always on our list of properties we'd like to be involved with."

ClubCorp, through a subsidiary Club Resorts Inc., now co-owns The Homestead through a limited liability corporation formed with Virginia Hot Springs Inc. The Virginia Hot Springs board approved the sale Monday.

Immediately afterward, members of the Ingalls family that has run the property for more than 100 years joined Dedman for a changing of the guard.

Dedman, who brings an immediate $12.5 million in cash to the deal, raved about the property's "historicity" and said marketing of the resort will highlight its 1891 beginning. Continuing in a low-key manner, he said changes at the property won't be major "except we might put a little more emphasis on golf."

He said he expects to do for The Homestead something similar to what his company has done for Pinehurst Resort, the North Carolina property ClubCorp acquired in 1984. Golf facilities have been expanded at Pinehurst, and the once-ailing resort will host the 1999 U.S. Open.

Dedman said the new Homestead corporation owns 1,000 acres that can be used for more golf courses, and he said they will be built as soon as the Homestead is profitable.

Although, based on its reservations, October will be the best month the resort will have ever had, Dedman said, its courses are operating at about one-third capacity. He hopes to turn that around by marketing the Homestead in package deals with the company's five other resorts through its network of 400,000 members.

Dedman said a Homestead membership program likely will be instituted also.

He said the only immediate physical changes will be some "tweaking" of a couple of tees at The Homestead's oldest course, which, he noted, includes the "oldest continuous No. 1 tee in use in America."

Club Resorts is the nation's largest privately held golf and conference resort owner/operator and it has a sister company that is the world's largest owner and operator of private clubs. The Jefferson Club in Roanoke is among its properties.

The Homestead deal calls for Club Resorts to initially have a minority interest but buy out Virginia Hot Springs by 1999. The joint venture, Management Company for Homestead Inc., will own the 600-room hotel, the nearby Cascades Inn, three golf courses, ski facilities, skeet-shooting range, skating rink, an equestrian center, the Warm Springs mineral pools and 1,000 undeveloped acres.

Virginia Hot Springs, of which the Ingalls family is majority stockholder, will keep 12,000 acres of unimproved real estate surrounding The Homestead.

Dan Ingalls Sr. on Monday became president of Virginia Hot Springs, a position previously held by his son, Dan Ingalls Jr. The son, who has run the resort for several years, will leave The Homestead but will be a non-voting member of the new corporation.

Gary K. Rosenberg, formerly involved with special projects for Club Resorts, has been named president and chief operating officer at The Homestead. He brings with him a five-member management team made up of former Pinehurst staff.

Patrick A. Corso, a senior vice president of Club Resorts and operator of Pinehurst, will serve as regional manager for The Homestead.

The sale of The Homestead, Bath County's largest employer, has been controversial. It became an issue during a collective bargaining campaign in July because Club Resorts said it wouldn't buy the almost-bankrupt property if employees voted for union representation.

The employees voted against representation on July 30, but the Hotel and Restaurant Employees union appealed the results, accusing the management of intimidation. The National Labor Relations Board rejected the appeal.

ClubCorp officials met with managers Sunday night and on Monday held meetings for all employees. Dedman said he wanted to reassure The Homestead staff and to make workers aware of the expanded opportunities for them as part of a large operation.