A tale of Goldman Sachs and Caddyshacks…

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lost management control of bankrupt Nanso Country Club outside Tokyo after a court accepted a petition by members to remove executives appointed by the Wall Street firm.

The Tokyo District Court on July 6 appointed attorney Yuzo Miyama to take over management of Nanso Country Club, Kunihiko Nishimura, a lawyer representing members, said in an interview. Miyama replaced Shigeki Kiritani, a Goldman Sachs managing director who was overseeing the club’s operations.

Goldman Sachs bought Nanso Country Club in November 2006 and took it into bankruptcy protection in January this year. Members last month voted against a rehabilitation plan proposed by the Wall Street firm, citing concerns that Goldman Sachs would allow more visiting players onto the course, depressing the value of memberships that cost about 1 million yen ($11,225). “We wouldn’t be able to enjoy our club life as we did before if Goldman allowed more visitors to play golf here,” said Tomoo Onodera, 43, a Nanso Country member who lives in Yokohama.

$GS controls a number of golf courses in Japan through its affiliate, Accordia, and while prices of memberships at all golf courses in Japan have collapsed, the Accordia courses have been worse. Memberships at Nanso peaked at 16 million yen, and right now, the bid/ask spread for memberships in Nanso is ridic: asking prices for Nanso Country Club memberships are 1-1.2 million yen, while bids range from 350,000 yen to 400,000 yen. It’s probably true that Shigeki’s plan to allow visiting proles onto the course would’ve made the situation worse, so yeah, Lloyd, I guarantee you’ll never be a member here.

The “Mr. Wang” scene from Caddyshack: