Jilted Resort Members Sue Golf Great Nicklaus

A Colorado couple that lost their $1.5 million membership fee when developers of a Utah luxury resort filed for bankruptcy are teeing off on one of the world’s most famous golfers: Jack Nicklaus.

The suit claims that the Nicklaus, who was to design the 18-hole course at the planned the Beaver, Utah, resort, knew developer Mount Holly Partners’ financial problems and should have yelled “Fore!”

Instead E. Jeffrey and Judee Donner, said the six-time Masters champion “solicited” them in 2007 to buy a membership and lot in the planned club, the Deseret News of Salt Lake City reported.

“The Donners were induced to purchase their membership, among other things, by the particular representations that Nicklaus was a founding charter member and that he endorsed the project,” said the lawsuit filed last month with the U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.

Now it doesn’t appear that Nicklaus played 18 holes with the Donners to convince them to buy. Instead, according to the suit, Nicklaus’s name and endorsement appeared on marketing materials for the resort.

“I knew from my first visit there that we had been given a canvas on which to design a truly spectacular golf course,” read a quote purportedly from Nicklaus on one of the resort’s brochures.

The Donners are targeting the famous golfer but cannot take aim at the failed developers. In addition to the resort’s bankruptcy filing, the Donners signed a membership agreement that released the developers from liability should the resort not be completed.

An attorney for Nicklaus told the newspaper that the suit has “no merit,” and the golfer’s only involvement with the resort was designing the course.

Despite seeking more than $1.5 million in damages from Nicklaus, the Donners seem to be fans of the “Golden Bear.”

In the lawsuit, they lobbed superlatives at Nicklaus, calling him a “legend” and the “golfer of the millennium” and saying his name is “synonymous with greatness.”

Nicklaus, and his course development company that was also named in the suit, are due to respond to the Donners’ claims on or before July 13.