Oaks at Sherwood purchased by family with plans for a tennis center

The Oaks at Sherwood golf course, which closed abruptly in early July with a reported $2.7 million in bank debt, has been purchased by a family group of investors who hope to turn part of the 127-acre property into a new tennis center. “We’ve been working on the details of what exactly we want to do for about the past month now. There’s some tennis centers in Covington that we’re trying to emulate, such as Franco’s Athletic Club, Pelican Athletic Club and Stone Creek,” says Ryan Dornier, who purchased the course with his father, Randy Dornier Sr., and brother, Randall Dornier Jr., about a month ago. Both Ryan and Randall Dornier are currently tennis pros and instructors at University Club. As for a timeline on when a tennis center could be developed at The Oaks at Sherwood, Ryan Dornier says “right now, it’s all a guess; we don’t even have electricity out there right now.” He says the family has no plans of re-opening the 18-hole golf course, though only about 20 to 30 acres of land is anticipated to be needed for the tennis center. The family is unsure exactly what they’ll do with the land that is not needed for the center, Ryan Dornier says. “The last thing we want to do is sell it to a developer,” he says. “If we need to, we will, but we think we can keep a lot of it as green space.” There are nine tennis courts at the course currently. Dornier says more will be built for the tennis center, adding there may also be a fitness center, lap pools and walking trails. —Steve Sanoski