South Kitsap’s Trophy Lake Golf & Casting, which opened in May of 1999, is under new management. OB Sports, which spent $11 million to build the upscale golf course, has handed over the reins to the San Diego-based Heritage Golf Group. The new management is now responsible for the day-to-day operation of Trophy Lake as well as management at the corporate level. The change, which was effective, Jan. 1, was forced by OB Sports’ main financial backer at Trophy Lake, Rice Capital.

OB Sports, which has developed golf courses since the early 1970s, had put the resort-style course on the auction block, along with the rest of its owned and leased properties last October. Analysts estimated that OB Sports portfolio of properties could have drawn a bid close to $75 million.

Its other assets include one leased course and four others it owns, which will also come under the management of Heritage. Those courses include three Las Vegas-area properties — Angel Park Golf Club, Cimarron Golf Resort and Legacy Golf Club, along with three Northwest properties — Trophy Lake, Washington National Golf Club, a 18-hole course in Auburn that features a University of Washington theme, and Langdon Farms Golf Club, a 5-year-old farm-themed property in Aurora, Ore.

Heritage is a relatively young management company. However, its four principal partners each have more than 20 years of golf-course management experience in a number of major markets.

Rice Capital is a publicly traded company whose common shares are listed on the Canadian Venture Exchange and The Winnipeg Stock Exchange under the symbol RCE.

A local minority ownership group called Tallamach will retain an ownership position in Trophy Lake. The group, which originally came up with the idea to put a golf course on the 150-acre tract, is comprised of local golf pro Scott Alexander, director of golf at the Gold Mountain Sports Complex, stockbroker Tom McGuire, Roger Tallakson and commercial realtor Herb Loop.