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Golfers returning to Hillmoor

LAKE GENEVA — For the first time since the historic golf course fell to foreclosure, golfers have returned to Hillmoor Golf Course.

The driving range opened about a month ago, and crews are working to restore the golf course for an opening sometime this summer.

"The word is on the street," said Jim Gaugert, the former golf professional at Hillmoor who oversaw the course for almost 20 years and since has been hired to manage the course. "There are a lot of questions being asked. And it's hard to make promises of when … (the golf course) might be playable again, but they're encouraged there's something being done."

Meanwhile, the city of Lake Geneva, which owns eight holes on the course, and Kennedy Funding, the lender that received a foreclosure judgment against the former owner of the course, are trying to work out an agreement so Hillmoor will be open for golfing this summer.

Nancy Johnson, the attorney representing Kennedy Funding, said the lender has "worked diligently" to satisfy the terms of the lease with the city, including making the overdue lease payment.

But City Attorney Dan Draper said the city believes the lender has not satisfied the lease terms, which include maintaining and operating the property as a golf course.

Kennedy Funding claims golf was played on the course one day last summer. The city of Lake Geneva says that's not enough.

The parties are trying to move past that disagreement and others, Johnson and Draper said.

Illinois developer George Wight, who had proposed building a golf community on the property, fell into financial trouble last summer.

Kennedy Funding filed a foreclosure action against him Aug. 4, and a foreclosure judgment was granted Dec. 30, according to court records.

Wight was past due on his $15,000 annual lease payment to the city as of Aug. 1. Kennedy Funding paid the city the late payment.

A sheriff's sale of the golf course property will be held in early July.