Canyon Lakes Golf Course majority owner Mike Lundgren wasn’t looking for anyone to buy his golf course.

But a golfing buddy of his broached the subject in the spring.

“It started with Dave Retter,” said Lundgren, who plays golf every Sunday with the owner of Retter & Company Sotheby’s International Realty. “He told me he had someone to buy the golf course. We’ve had some offers in the past. But nothing ever came of them.”

This time, though, it was different.

The interested parties were Craig Eerkes, his son Chris Eerkes, and Scott Mitchell — all longtime Tri-Citians.

The idea of someone local owning the golf course appealed to Lundgren.

“I think them being local was a big part of it,” he said. “We had negotiations going back and forth. We didn’t have anyone actively looking for a sale.”

So after the Eerkes’ and Mitchell did their research, the keys to Canyon Lakes — so to say — were turned over to the purchasers on Aug. 1.

While an exact purchase price wouldn’t be divulged, Chris Eerkes confirmed it was a multimillion dollar transaction.

“We’re really excited about it. It’s been a long time in the making,” said Chris Eerkes, president of Sun Pacific Energy. “We started our due diligence back in May. We did a good job working together with Mike and his people. Mike is an old-school accountant at heart. He had real good solid numbers.”

Craig and Chris Eerkes, as well as Mitchell, formed Columbia Golf Company LLC on June 7.

They immediately applied for an assumption of Canyon Lakes liquor license on July 3.

Retirement for Lundgren

With the sale, Lundgren said he’s done working.

“I’m officially retired,” he said. “This was the right time. It’ll be tough not being the boss. It’s a different thing now. But it’s time. I’m turning 64, and my wife Tina and I spend six, seven, eight months out of the year in Arizona.”

He said it felt a little weird when he walked into the clubhouse on Aug. 1, and realized he had to pay for his own soda and an apple.

“It’s a little bittersweet. Someone was using my office,” Lundgren said. “But it’s all good. Part of the agreement is they’ll keep everyone on for a while so that they can prove themselves.”

That was important to Lundgren. Canyon Lakes Golf Course has 50 employees – a mixture of full-time and part-time positions.

“At least they’re giving the employees a chance,” he said.

Perhaps the most important one is head pro Matt Mandell, who will be promoted to the general manager position that Lundgren held.

“That’ll be a bit of a change for Matt,” Chris Eerkes said. “But we still want him to be available to the customers.”

Lundgren bought into Canyon Lakes ownership in 1991.

“Terry Graff had 30%, his brother Brad Graff had 30%, and I had 40% myself,” he said. “In 1996, Brad wanted to sell, so we redeemed his shares. Then I owned 4/7ths and Terry owned 3/7ths. We’ve been there a long time. We’ve been owners for over 30 years.”

Lundgren will remain a member of the course.

“We’ll still keep our condo on the course,” he said. “We love the Tri-Cities. Canyon Lakes is always the main reason we always come back. We’ll still be a part of the Tri-Cities. At least for the next few years anyway.”

But there are things he’ll miss.

“I’m going to miss the people. We have a great staff. We always had our management meetings every Wednesday,” he said. “The second thing I’ll miss are the members and the customers there.” 

Meet the new owners

The Eerkes name is well-known in the Tri-City business community.

The father-and-son team own Sun Pacific Energy — a company that once owned several Sun Mart convenience stores, sold them and then after a five-year period with a non-compete clause, opened a number of Sun Market convenience stores and gas stations.

Earlier this year, Sun Pacific sold its retail, dealer wholesale and transportation assets to Meridian, Idaho-based PacWest Energy.

The family’s 67-year-old company was founded by Jerry Eerkes under the name Tri-City Oil Co. in 1956. Jerry Eerkes sold the company to his son, Craig Eerkes, in 1981.

In a January Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business story, Jerry’s grandson, Chris Eerkes, said the focus for the company will be without convenience stores and instead rely on its other holdings.

“We’ve retained a lot of real estate and we’re focused on developing flex space, multi-use spaces,” Chris Eerkes told the Journal in January.

Earlier this year, the company-owned Golf Universe opened in a new building on Edison Street in Kennewick, after moving late last year from its original leased building on West Clearwater Avenue.

Chris Eerkes sees a tie-in with Golf Universe and Canyon Lakes.

“I just feel it will complement with Golf Universe with demo days and equipment,” he said.

There will be some changes coming, or what Eerkes calls tweaks.

“We might bring in some simulator bays for some year-round stuff,” he said. “We’ll want to make more tee times public. Obviously, we want to honor the commitments to the members, and we’ll have a more detailed membership program coming.”

Chris Eerkes also says they want to help make improvements to the The Duck Pond Restaurant & Bar.

Chris Eerkes said the new ownership group is excited.

“I think this was a good business decision,” he said. “We’ve grown up around Canyon Lakes, and we’ve been in the golf industry for years now. It made sense from the timing from our end. I think it was good timing for Mike, too. The course is in fantastic shape.”

Lundgren pointed out that Canyon Lakes has been named the Tri-Cities’ best golf course for 11 years in a row, according to a local poll.

“We did great business. I think we made some good improvements over the years. It’s been fun,” Lundgren said.

Chris Eerkes understands what the sellers have done. It’s why he and his partners bought the business.

“Mike and Terry have done such a wonderful job with this golf course over the years,” said Chris Eerkes. “This wouldn’t have happened without what they’ve done. Now, we want to take it to the next level.”