Deer Island Golf Club Sold

MOUNT DORA, FL-Deer Island Golf and Lake Club, a picturesque, 18-hole, 13-year-old recreation jewel located on a secluded island in the middle of an urban setting, is out of foreclosure today. Deer Isle Golf LLC of New York paid Orlando-based Mercantile Bank $2.5 million, or $13,889 per hole, for the 6,661-yard course built on the south shore of Lake Dora in Lake County, 28 miles northwest of Downtown Orlando.

The transaction also pays off a delinquent $1.9-million mortgage the bank has been holding on the property, according to Lake County real estate records.

The bank foreclosed on the prime real estate in 2003 after developers John L. Webb, Joe B. Tramell, Deer Island Golf Course Partnership, Deer Island GCC Inc. and Tramell Webb Partners Inc. defaulted on the mortgage balance. However, instead of shutting down the course, the bank kept the links open to the public by setting up Flaresco Inc., a subsidiary maintenance company.