Golf Club Atlas
GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture => Topic started by: John Avram on January 04, 2014, 03:31:41 PM
-
Wondering how many courses permanently closed in the last calendar year (not counting courses that are closed temporarily for renovation). We lost one here near Boulder, Coal Creek Golf Course. It was a victim of the torrential rains that we got back in September, and I have heard rumors that it may remain as open space now.
-
John
It might take a while to name each closure.
It would be easier to name the openings.
Via a recent e-mail:
The NGF preliminary numbers were 158.5 closures and 14 openings.
Below is the accompanying chart.
Which looks like a net zero over the last 13 years.
(http://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20140103/b0/77/0a/b7/a51206d7aeebc1bf80018ada_280x226.png)
Cheers
-
Here are the openings for 2013:
1) Streamsong Resort Blue
2) Dismal River Red
3) Max A Mandel Municipal
4) Sewailo Golf Club
5) The Cliffs at Mountain Park
6) Rock Creek Golf Club
7) The Grove
8) Summit Rock Golf Club
9) Fyre Lake Golf Club
10) Streamsong Resort Red
11) Sutton Bay Club, Agar
12) Mystic Creek, Resurrection
13) Kohanaiki Golf & Ocean Club
14) Potomac Shores Golf Club
15) Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point
Doing a couple of hours of research, here is a list I put together of what closed (incomplete):
Walnut Hill Columbus Ohio
Dogwood Hills Golf Club South Carolina
Crooked Tree Golf Course Mason Ohio
Escondido Country Club San Diego
Sarasota Golf Club Sarasota
Middle Bay Country Club Long Island
Gleneagle Golf Club Colorado Springs
Ballinger Lake Golf Course Seattle
Osprey Ridge Orlando
Dix Hills Golf Club Long Island
Ocean Meadows Golf Club Santa Barbara
Forbes Golf Course Topeka
Centre Hills Golf Course Aurora
River Ben Golf Course Hastings MI
Centennial Country Club Grand Rapids
Hidden Valley Golf Course Gun Lake MI
The Range Golf Club & Sports Bar Austin
Rogell Golf Course Detroit
Sawmill Golf Course Stillwater MN
Elm Creek Golf Course Plymouth MN
Mississipi National Golf Links Redwing MN
Most of these are older courses, a common theme seems to be that with the number of rounds down, the land is just too valuable to remain a golf course.
-
Hershey Links - formerly known as Wren Dale - closed this year. Hurdzan and Fry from 2000.
-
If that is a complete list of courses opened in the US, I would hate to be one of the five that didn't make Golf Digest's "top ten new courses of 2013" list!
-
Not sure whether it should count as 2012 or 2013, but Acacia CC (Ross) near Cleveland closed for good. I believe that Bill McKinley and Joe Leenheer played one the last rounds at the club. I think the grounds are now being reverted to greenspace and public parklands. The city was opposed to the sale to a conservation group because of the potential tax $$ associated with commercial development.
-
Thank goodnees Crooked Tree GC in Mason Ohio closed. A poor excuse for a golf course and we are all better off for it closing. I am of the opinion that "thinning out" the weak and diseased in the herd is a good thing sometimes expecially if I do not care for the course. Rogell GC (Ross) in Michigan was sold off to become a cemetery, I played it a few years back to get if crossed off the list as I knew it's days were numbered when the city sold it off to a local church. It really suffered from flooding, poor drainage and it was in a shady neighborhood. When I got out of the car, a pit bull greeting me in the lot. It took me a few minutes to decide if I really wanted to play there.
-
Wondering how many courses permanently closed in the last calendar year (not counting courses that are closed temporarily for renovation). We lost one here near Boulder, Coal Creek Golf Course. It was a victim of the torrential rains that we got back in September, and I have heard rumors that it may remain as open space now.
I think I played Coal Creek, was it near the freeway? Fun course.
-
Under the list of courses that supposedly opened in 2013. It should be known that Trump Links at Ferry Point Park will not officially open until the spring of 2015.
-
Wow Osprey Ridge...didn't know that one closed.
Have a conference at Disney in March and was going to try to play there again...
-
Wondering how many courses permanently closed in the last calendar year (not counting courses that are closed temporarily for renovation). We lost one here near Boulder, Coal Creek Golf Course. It was a victim of the torrential rains that we got back in September, and I have heard rumors that it may remain as open space now.
I think I played Coal Creek, was it near the freeway? Fun course.
It was next to the freeway...on the way to Boulder. It was the second course I worked at, and I'm sad to hear it may not reopen. I had some great times there! It was a fun course...Dick Phelps design...nothing special. But it was a solid design, fun to play, and very maintenance friendly!
-
Brad Tufts said, "Wow Osprey Ridge...didn't know that one closed.
Have a conference at Disney in March and was going to try to play there again..."
I thought it was the best of the Disney courses. Bummer.
-
I am pretty sure Sugarloaf Mtn closed in 2013
-
Brad Tufts said, "Wow Osprey Ridge...didn't know that one closed.
Have a conference at Disney in March and was going to try to play there again..."
I thought it was the best of the Disney courses. Bummer.
I agree Bill...that was the consensus. I've played the new Waldorf Astoria course and it was ok, if a bit forgettable.
I guess after searching around OR is not totally dead yet. It might re-open after a year when the Four Seasons and surrounding development are finished (the same development that killed Eagle Pines c. 2007), likely with a bunch of new holes necessitated by the construction.
So, the original configuration is NLE, but the course may reopen with some of the old holes in play eventually.
-
Wondering how many courses permanently closed in the last calendar year (not counting courses that are closed temporarily for renovation). We lost one here near Boulder, Coal Creek Golf Course. It was a victim of the torrential rains that we got back in September, and I have heard rumors that it may remain as open space now.
I think I played Coal Creek, was it near the freeway? Fun course.
Yeah, right near US-36 (The Boulder Turnpike). It was a fun course.
Here is some crazy video of the course during the flooding. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJVa1_Zr75M The Boulder area got something like 14 inches of rain in 24 hours, which is about as much as they average for a whole year.
-
Wow Osprey Ridge...didn't know that one closed.
Have a conference at Disney in March and was going to try to play there again...
Yeah, that's a bummer. I have some very good memories of that place. Shot -11 in a 3-man scramble with my brother and my dad and won his company tournament. I made a 40-foot eagle putt on #9.
-
I played Coal Creek and Gleneagles in CO a few times. What really hurts my heart is to read that Centre Hills in Aurora closed. One of the places I learned the game.
Most of the places where I learned to play are gone now ...
-
There may be more recent news, but here's an article saying that Coal Creek may have a future.
http://www.dailycamera.com/louisville-news/ci_24454735/louisville-take-over-management-coal-creek-golf-course
Is it wrong for me, as a student of quality Golf Course Architecture, to love that downhill par-4 right next to the highway? Let me be guilty. It is the only hole on the course I can remember off the top of my head.........
-
Wow Osprey Ridge...didn't know that one closed.
Have a conference at Disney in March and was going to try to play there again...
Osprey did close last year but only because it will be part of the new Four Seasons property. It is being renovated and will have a new 18th hole as the resort is built over the previous closer. I believe the FS resort and the golf course open in July.
Sugarloaf closed in 2012 :'(
-
I played Coal Creek and Gleneagles in CO a few times. What really hurts my heart is to read that Centre Hills in Aurora closed. One of the places I learned the game.
Most of the places where I learned to play are gone now ...
That is the shame of it all, the par-3 and municipal courses where lots of folks first learned the game are closing in droves, and very few courses of these types are opening to take their place. Kind of makes me wonder how future generations are going to learn the game. I can certainly appreciate the economics of it all, but it is sad...
-
The two courses at Kananaskis in Alberta closed last year due to the heavy storms/floods that ravaged the province.
At this point, it's unknown if the courses will ever re-open due to the incredible damage.
-
I assume that operating costs in general are a primary cause of closures, but I wonder how many are directly related to water costs and availability? I know that is a major concern of the USGA, as water becomes a bigger issue in the US, and the patience of the public for use on golf courses becomes even less.
-
Found this unofficial blog posting regarding the plans for Osprey @ WDW:
http://www.wdwgolf.com/2013/04/22/osprey-ridge-golf-course-to-close-and-a-palm-golf-course-update/ (http://www.wdwgolf.com/2013/04/22/osprey-ridge-golf-course-to-close-and-a-palm-golf-course-update/)
-
A par 3 course just off the 405 in LA called Dominguez Hills Golf Course closed. The course had the giant lumber jack looking guy and was across from the home of the Goodyear blimp.
-
Thank goodnees Crooked Tree GC in Mason Ohio closed. A poor excuse for a golf course and we are all better off for it closing. I am of the opinion that "thinning out" the weak and diseased in the herd is a good thing sometimes expecially if I do not care for the course. Rogell GC (Ross) in Michigan was sold off to become a cemetery, I played it a few years back to get if crossed off the list as I knew it's days were numbered when the city sold it off to a local church. It really suffered from flooding, poor drainage and it was in a shady neighborhood. When I got out of the car, a pit bull greeting me in the lot. It took me a few minutes to decide if I really wanted to play there.
I would not root for any golf course to close, but if one in the Cincinnati area was going to close I would second the Crooked Tree closing. I played it many times, though not in quite awhile, and there were just not many good holes there at all. #3 and #4 were OK, #13 on the back. Lots of just plain bad holes (#1, #2, #8, #9, #10, #14, #18, and I'm being kind to the others).
I do like pit bulls, however.
-
Ocean Meadows in Santa Barbara is essentially where I started playing golf. It was a cheap municipal 9 hole course very close to UCSB and was very unintimidating, so I felt comfortable stinking up the place round after round. Apparently, an environmental group purchased the course so that it can restore the ecological wetland system that once existed before the course was built. Eventually, the land will be a public park, so it sounds like a nice plan.
On the other hand, I hope that places like this find a way to exist. I think the unassuming municipal 9 holer, with a range, gets a lot of beginners hooked on the game. I know of one in Glendora, CA that has done a pretty good job developing interest in the game to nearby kids.
-
I played Coal Creek and Gleneagles in CO a few times. What really hurts my heart is to read that Centre Hills in Aurora closed. One of the places I learned the game.
Most of the places where I learned to play are gone now ...
That is the shame of it all, the par-3 and municipal courses where lots of folks first learned the game are closing in droves, and very few courses of these types are opening to take their place. Kind of makes me wonder how future generations are going to learn the game. I can certainly appreciate the economics of it all, but it is sad...
This is the exact reason I plan on a long road trip in June to get in 15-20 older, public or municipal Ross courses as I fear they may no longer be open in the near future.
-
Sunrise Golf Course in Carmel, IN closed. A 9-hole course that had a few good holes, the rest ok, and provided an inexpensive place to get in a few holes or work on one's game. Some will contend it's just as well as their policy towards accommodating young players was less than accommodating. Course was closed because a new owner took over the land on which the course sat, and the folks operating the course could not, or would not, come up with the higher rent. So they closed it and the land will become housing. All of which means increased play for the other 9-holer in town, I suppose.
-
Here is a story about an 18 hole and par 3 course located near my house that closed this fall. It was a pretty pedestrian course on some prime real estate so I completely understand why the owners chose to sell. Nonetheless, it provided low cost golf on some interesting land. It will be missed by my neighbors who played there.
http://lakerpioneer.com/2013/08/19/lakeview-and-red-oak-golf-courses-sold-to-developer/
-
Here is something to think about that might go better as its own thread. Are WE the ones causing these decent little nine hole courses where we learned the game, to close? I mean, its a good course to learn on, but now that we are beyond the learning stage if we take little ones or friends out on the course, in a selfish manner, we don't go take them back to those types of courses because we want to play on the "bigger, nicer" courses? I think its something to think about. If those courses don't have those learning the game, what do they really have at this point? Nobody is building easier courses with fewer hazards where people can learn the game. The only things we see like that now are "executive courses" as part of the private sector.
Thoughts?
-
Here is something to think about that might go better as its own thread. Are WE the ones causing these decent little nine hole courses where we learned the game, to close? I mean, its a good course to learn on, but now that we are beyond the learning stage if we take little ones or friends out on the course, in a selfish manner, we don't go take them back to those types of courses because we want to play on the "bigger, nicer" courses? I think its something to think about. If those courses don't have those learning the game, what do they really have at this point? Nobody is building easier courses with fewer hazards where people can learn the game. The only things we see like that now are "executive courses" as part of the private sector.
Thoughts?
-
Foxtail GC in Meridian, ID closed last year. The course was nothing to speak of...but always seemed fairly busy when I went and the range's hitting area was big and usually busy, as well.
Closed for a housing development.
-
FYI -
middle bay didn't actually close. it temporarily shuttered, is no longer private and reopened as a public daily fee known as south bay. you can buy a tee time there for weekend mornings, so i suppose it's technically "semi-private"
-
NEVERMIND
i saw an another thread that last month the US bankruptcy court pulled the plug on south bay. too bad, i had friends here in nyc who enjoyed taking the train out to oceanside to play it.
-
We had only one closure in the greater PHX area that I'm aware of. Ahwatukee Lakes GC, an 18 hole executive course, closed its doors in May of 2013. The property is being marketed for development. The course and closure was discussed in an earlier thread:
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,56077.0.html (http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,56077.0.html)
-
The Lucayan Country Club (Dick Wilson and Craig Wood, 1964) on Grand Bahama closed. The Chinese owners are happy to keep the harbour and the airport, both 100 miles from the US of A! Amazing how much fuss was made over theRussians in Cuba, and nothing about the Chinese buying up so many strategic properties, or control of the Panama Canal, navy yards in San Francisco, etc. They don't need missiles, although they have them, they can just ship stuff in their containers on their ships to their ports anywhere in the world.
-
Hillcrest Country Club in Altoona, WI closed in the spring of 2013. Here is one of the articles that covered the loss:
http://www.wisgolfer.com/Wisconsin-Golfer/February-2013/Hillcrest-CC-will-be-Wisconsins-newest-missing-links/