
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 1, 1990                   TAG: 9006010024
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ORLANDO, FLA.                                LENGTH: Short

PALMER FACES SUIT OVER GOLF COURSE

A Japanese company has withdrawn a $46 million offer to buy Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill golf club and is suing the golfer and other owners in an attempt to recoup its $3 million deposit.

WDI Systems Inc. charged in its suit, filed in circuit court, that club buildings are riddled with cancer-causing asbestos fibers and that club owners did not file some required income tax materials.

"The allegations are totally devoid of merit," said William Carpenter, a lawyer for International Management Inc., an agent in the sale and one of the defendants. "There's nothing to these complaints."

WDI agreed to purchase the club, which is the site of an annual professional golf tournament, in February. It paid the $3 million deposit and gained access to the club and its records.

The company said the asbestos in the club restaurant, lounge, lodge and bathhouse is friable, meaning it can crumble and become airborne.

by CNB