Independence Golf Club, seen with its clubhouse in the distance, opened in 2001. (Courtesy Independence social media)
Heritage Golf Group is set to add another local club to its bag.
The Northern Virginia-based firm, which owns 45 golf courses in 15 states including the Dominion Club in Henrico, is in the process of purchasing Independence Golf Club, a semi-private course that straddles the Chesterfield-Powhatan County line.
The seller is locally based Pros Inc., run by longtime Richmonder Giff Breed.
Breed and Pros have owned the 260-acre course since purchasing it for $3 million in 2013.
Breed has since become known for his willingness to invest in the quality of the club’s grounds and his experimentation with non-golf activities as a way to draw visitors, members and revenue. The result has been the creation of a country club-like setting that’s open to the public.
Breed informed members and employees of the pending deal this week, including in a letter obtained by BizSense.
“After 13 incredible years, Pros Inc. is in advanced discussions to sell Independence Golf Club to Heritage Golf Group. I felt it was important that you hear this from me directly, and not through the rumor mill,” Breed wrote.
Breed, who would step down as the club’s leader once the deal closes, expressed in the letter some of the emotions involved in the prospect of letting go of Independence.
“I have been sitting with this letter for a while now, trying to find the right words — because some news deserves more than a form announcement,” he wrote. “This deserves a conversation, and since I can’t sit down with each of you personally, I hope this comes close.”
Giff Breed
Breed went on to thank members for supporting the golf course, the club’s Tavern 19 restaurant and various event spaces.
“Thank you for the patience you’ve shown us during our growing pains, and for the loyalty you’ve extended through every season — the good ones and the hard ones alike. Thirteen years is a long time, and not a single one of them would have meant anything without you,” the letter stated.
The letter also explained in part why Breed chose to do a deal with Heritage.
“They are operators who understand that a great golf club isn’t just about the course — it’s about the people who walk it every day. I genuinely believe they will take Independence to a level that requires resources and a platform beyond what a single owner can provide. That is not a failure. It is the natural next step for a course that has outgrown its own ambitions in the best possible way,” Breed wrote.
Both sides declined to comment at length beyond what’s stated in Breed’s letter or on specifics of the deal, including when it would be finalized. Independence continues to operate as usual.
It’s also unclear whether Independence would remain semi-private – meaning it’s open to daily-fee players but also offers memberships – after the deal closes. The bulk of Heritage’s courses are private.
In a brief interview with BizSense on Thursday, Breed said he and Heritage had casually kept in touch for years before discussions of a deal began to ramp up.
“The question I’ve been getting the most is ‘why now?’” said Breed, 67.
“In thinking about what the future holds I wanted to be certain that my teammates at Independence were with a group that shared a similar culture with what we worked so hard to put together here,” he said. “I was very interested in finding somebody that was going to keep it a golf course. The folks at Powhatan County have been incredibly helpful and supportive and I didn’t want to see it become homes. I think it needs to be a golf course.”
Breed also cited Heritage’s stewardship of and investment in Dominion Club, which it purchased in 2015 for $5.79 million, as well as the company’s Spring Creek Golf Club in Charlottesville.
“I wanted somebody that was community-focused and if you look at Dominion Club and Spring Creek they’ve done a wonderful job with both of those facilities,” Breed said.
Reached Thursday, Scott McMartin, Heritage Golf’s chief acquisition officer, said, “We’re very excited about expanding in the Richmond market.”
“We’ve done very well at Dominion Club and this is just a really good next step in the market,” he added.
The clubhouse at Independence saw regular upgrades during Pros Inc.’s ownership (BizSense file photo)
Independence opened in 2001 as the centerpiece of the surrounding Founders Bridge residential development. It features an 18-hole course and a nine-hole short course. The club was founded with the help of benefactors such as Richmonders E. Clairborne Robins Jr. and Harry Easterly Jr.
Should the Heritage deal close as expected, Breed said he’s not exactly sure what he’ll do next but that he’s not simply riding off on a golf cart into the sunset.
“I’m definitely not going to retire,” he said. “Hopefully there are other opportunities ahead of me in my career.”
The deal for Independence comes at a suddenly busy time for local golf course sales.
Magnolia Green Golf Club, which sits about 15 miles south of Independence in Chesterfield, was listed for sale in recent weeks with an asking price of $6.75 million.
The course is owned by New York-based Starfield Cos., which developed the surrounding Magnolia Green residential community.
It’s listed with Leisure Investment Properties Group out of Florida. The online listing describes the motivation of the sale as a “Repositioning From Developer Amenity to ‘For Profit’ Club.”
The listing states that golfers played more than 35,000 rounds at Magnolia Green in 2025, through a mix of 52% daily-fee players and 47% members. The club brought in $4 million in revenue in 2025, according to the listing.
And up in Henrico, the county-owned Crossings Golf Club is set to be sold to North Carolina-based McConnell Golf in a deal that will tee up a pro-tournament-caliber renovation for the aging course.
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