Apr. 2--Golf Trust of America Inc., which is going out of business, has slashed by as much as 42 percent the amount of money it expects to return to shareholders from the sale of its courses, blaming hazardous conditions in its corner of the real estate world. 

Also, the troubled Charleston-based company said its investors might have to wait as long as two more years to receive their funds from the liquidation. 

Based on a newly revised analysis, Golf Trust now estimates that owners of its common stock ultimately would wind up with $6.01 to $9.43 a share. The company, a real estate investment trust, projected a year ago that the sales would yield between $10.43 and $14.18 a share. 

In a written statement, Golf Trust said it expects to distribute the proceeds "shortly after" it sells the remaining 21 properties. The company estimated that the process "will likely be at least 12 months and possibly 24 months or more from today." "These projected payments are lower and later than Golf Trust's original estimates from April 2001," Golf Trust said. 

Shareholders voted in favor of the liquidation plan last year. At the time, the company said its finances had suffered from adverse business conditions in the golf course industry and limited availability of fresh capital. 

Golf Trust has unloaded half of the 42 courses it owned at its peak, raising more than $191 million since early 2001. In prepared remarks, W. Bradley Blair II, president and chief executive, said the lump-sum value of those deals is "within our originally estimated ... price range." Golf Trust has had to lower its financial expectations about future sale proceeds partly because of "the numerous lease and mortgage payment defaults we have experienced over the past 12 months" with some companies that run its courses, Blair said. 

"We have also experienced falling revenues from direct golf course operations, particularly during the latter half of 2001 as the economy worsened and travel and consumer leisure spending declined following the Sept. 11 attacks," he added. 

In addition, it's hardly an ideal time to be selling golf properties, the company said. A "buyer's market" has developed, forcing Golf Trust to lower its sales projections. 

Golf Trust also announced that it probably would not meet government REIT requirements for 2002, meaning its income could be fully taxed at the federal level. But the company does not expect to report any taxable income this year and "does not expect its loss of REIT status to have a material effect on its liquidating distributions." Scott D. Peters, chief financial officer of Golf Trust, could not be reached for additional comment Tuesday. Shares of the company fell 4.6 percent, or 26 cents, to close at $5.35. 

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(c) 2002, The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. GTA,