Big Sugar Golf Club Unkempt, On Market for $1.5 Million

According to the Arkansas State Golf Association, the most difficult golf course in the state is in Benton County.

Big Sugar Golf Club, a public course just south of Pea Ridge off Arkansas Highway 94, has a slope rating of 150 from its championship tees, according to Bryant Fortin of the ASGA. That is the highest rating of any 18-hole course in Arkansas.

The reason you won’t find Big Sugar on the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s list of Toughest Golf Courses? The golf course closed in February — the second time it has closed since 2010 — and its future remains uncertain.

Big Sugar Enterprises LLC, led by Dr. Larry H. Johnson, bought the property at auction on Nov. 10, 2011, for $660,000, and the course re-opened March 3, 2012.

The same day he bought the property, Johnson struck a deal in the Big Sugar parking lot to lease the golf course to a local investor group that also made a bid at the auction.

Jim Roe, a retired public school administrator living in Neosho, Missouri, and Jerry Wilkerson, a retired dairy farmer and lifelong Pea Ridge resident, entered into a two-year leasing agreement with Johnson, at $3,500 per month, to be the golf course’s on-site management team.

When their offer to buy the property outright from Johnson was declined in late 2013, Roe and Wilkerson opted out of the leasing agreement, and the golf course eventually ceased operations.

Neither Roe nor Wilkerson could be reached for comment. Johnson, a retired anesthesiologist living in Jonesboro, did not return several phone calls seeking comment.

Tim Salmonsen, commercial director of Keller Williams Market Pro Realty in Bentonville, is marketing the property and has it listed for $1.5 million.

That includes 187 acres, the 1,200-SF clubhouse, equipment barn and all related equipment.

“Additional land and 84 developed building lots are also available,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity for a developer.”

Salmonsen said the golf course is drawing interest, and is still viable as a residential development. And that was the idea for the original developers.

The 7,201-yard layout, noted for its scenic terrain and sharp elevation changes, was designed by Jerry Slack and opened in May 2002, and was supposed to be the centerpiece of a residential golf community.

To date, however, only 20 houses have been built at Big Sugar. There are 102 vacant lots.

And for all intents and purposes, Big Sugar has returned to the earth, with weeds and vegetation making the land barely recognizable as anything resembling a golf course.

Some residents in the area have expressed frustration that the neglected golf course is hurting their property values.

One homeowner who did not want to be identified said he and his wife bought their 2,538-SF residence in May 2006 for $283,000.

The property was appraised earlier this year for $243,450.

“My property values have suffered enough since the development never took off,” the man said.

Before Johnson became owner, the previous ownership group was Sugar Creek LLC, comprised of several investors including Leroy Schuetts, Rich Hopkins and Ken Winter.

They had the golf course on the market for several years, trying to distance themselves from the property.