Golf Trust urged to re-evaluate plans

Golf Trust of America Inc. is being pressed to take a fresh look at its long-delayed plan to put itself out of business through an orderly sale of its real estate assets.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week, California hedge fund Odyssey Value Advisors LLC urged the management and directors of the Charleston-based company to 're-evaluate' the corporate dissolution that stockholders approved some six years ago.

Odyssey also is seeking 'a new consensus of the current shareholders,' given the shifting makeup of Golf Trust's investor base and 'the great number' of takeovers in the resort and lodging sector in the past year or two.

'To not do this would clearly be a disservice to shareholders and not in the spirit of maximizing shareholder value,' the firm said in its filing.

Golf Trust CEO Bradley Blair could not be reached for comment Friday.

San Francisco-based Odyssey targets what it perceives as undervalued small capitalization stocks. It disclosed last week that it has plunked down $532,800 to amass 370,000 shares of Golf Trust, giving it a cost basis of $1.44 a share.

The firm made its latest stock purchase of 4,300 shares on June 15.

'We basically just rounded up our position,' said Bill Vlahos, Odyssey's managing partner. 'We've owned the stock for a while, and we like it a lot.'

He ought to at this point: Golf Trust's stock has climbed sharply since early April for reasons unknown.

As of Friday it closed at $2.60, giving Odyssey a nearly 80 percent paper return on its original investment.

Golf Trust was created to capitalize on the golfing boom of the 1990s by snapping up courses all around the country. Its business plan was torpedoed by a prolonged industry-wide slump that caused the values of its properties to plummet.

In 2001 its shareholders voted to approve the liquidation of the company.

The company has since sold all but two of its properties. Its biggest and most valuable remaining asset is Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club near Tampa, Fla.

According to the latest estimate, Innisbrook is valued at about $39 million. Golf Trust took back ownership of the resort in 2004 under a negotiated settlement. Last year it assumed management of the 900-acre getaway, which features four golf courses, five restaurants, six swimming pools and 11 tennis courts.

Shareholders such as Odyssey won't be paid until the liquidation is complete and all outstanding liabilities are paid, such as the nearly $5.6 million termination fee Golf Trust owed the former Innisbrook management firm.

As of last week, the value of Golf Trust's outstanding common shares was $19 million. Vlahos declined to say whether he has any specific strategic recommendations for the company's board.

'We just feel like the assets are worth more than the market capitalization for the company, and we want to make sure management unlocks shareholder value,' he said Friday.

I'm loving it Jim Pallotta, the Boston-based hedge fund whiz who this month paid a record $7.2 million for a house on lower King Street, didn't return The Post and Courier's calls last week. But he did offer a comment on his local purchase to a hometown newspaper, based on Katy Stech's reporting. 'Just love that city and the Lowcountry' Pallotta told Boston Globe columnist Steve Bailey, who, as it turns out, is a Charleston native.

In purchasing 21 King - a.k.a. the Patrick O'Donnell House - Pallotta paid a record price for a single-family home on the Charleston peninsula. The previous high-water mark was $6.1 million, set about 18 months ago.

Pallotta, a self-made billionaire and part owner of the Boston Celtics, is a top executive with Connecticut-based Tudor Investment Corp. He's also said to have a wicked jump shot.

Contact John McDermott at 937-5572 or jmcdermott@postandcourier.com.