Stratford businessman Cory Gray announced his family’s purchase of the golf course on Twitter Tuesday.
Gray said he, his father and brother were already fans of the course before buying it.
“My dad, brother and I all live in Stratford and we’ve played the course for quite some time,” Gray said during an interview with The Guardian.
Although the family owns The Gray Group, which deals primarily with real estate development, Gray said the golf course was purchased under a newly registered business.
That’s because they didn’t want to give an impression that the course would be cleared to make way for real estate.
“We’re not considering that at all,” said Gray, who praised the existing staff and said his family plays the course probably once a week. “We love the course the way it is, we love playing it. It’s in the heart of P.E.I. so we felt there’s an opportunity for the course to do well and continue to grow.”
The course, which is also home to the Fox Golf Academy, opened in 2000 after being developed by Island businessman Simon Compton.
When Compton died in 2009, his daughters took ownership of the course.
Knowing the previous owners personally, Gray said his family had mentioned over a year ago they were interested in looking at new business opportunities.
The owners then mentioned that they were also contemplating selling the golf course.
Gray said it took his family some time to warm up to the idea.
The only other business owned by the group that could be compared to the newly-acquired course is the KOA campground in Cornwall, simply for the fact that both fall under the tourism industry.
Gray said the family, ultimately decided in favour of purchasing the course.
“It’s a terrific golf course,” said Gray, adding that the only possible changes could be made to the clubhouse building. “We may do some updates because it’s 16 or 17 years old… but even with that, I don’t see any major changes.”
Twitter.com/MitchPEI
