What will happen to a Golf Course when it shuts down?

[ChipNRun]

On 6/30/2022 at 9:33 AM, acegolfer said:

For context, my local public course is badly managed and I suspect it will eventually close in the next 5 yrs.

 

Municipal or county courses likely will be repurposed by the government body.

 

If it is a privately owned course open to the general public, it might be subdivided or turned into retail space. As someone else said, if  it is out in the boonies, nature may take its course.

 

I know a realtor who works St. Louis County area. She said that the closure of a private golf club can cause neighborhood housing values to plummet by $20,000. And these are across-the-fence properties not connected to the course.

 

In the Myrtle Beach zone, Golf Course Shutdown Angers Suburbanites.

 

For a look at various legal adventures involved, see Distressed Courses and Bankruptcy.

 

Edited July 17, 2022 by ChipNRun

[CDLgolf]

The course I lived on closed about 5 years ago. The clubhouse, parking lot and driving range were turned into apartments. A few holes were turned into single family houses. Most holes were just taken over by nature, tall grass, shrubs and small trees. It's amazing how fast nature will reclaim property once it's left alone.

[ChaosTheory]

Depressing thread.

[HappyGilmoresBoots]

Quarter acre lots and $400k McMansions, baby!  WOOO!

 

One course around here sold out to the nearby Casino, one got donated to the County to become a public park, several sold out completely as subdivisions.  Several others sold off just a few holes and rerouted some others just to make enough to stay afloat.

[rd1959]

Around Charlotte it seems they don't even give the ground time to relax before they start building either housing developments, condos/ apartment complexes, or shopping malls. They treat historic places the same way. Just run the people out of the area and keep on building. 

Edited July 21, 2022 by rd1959

[markheardjr]

The first people to complain about a course closing are people that live on the course and will take a home value hit.  These are also the same people that play the course like its their private club and are rude to out of towners, never rake traps or fix divots/ballmarks.

 

As a nostalgic person, it saddens me to see courses I played close up. Place where I remember pulling off a great recovery shot, or stuck an approach and can never play again.  The first course I ever played was a local 9 hole, it closed maybe 10yrs ago and built houses, only along the property near the roads. Another course, Malibu Country Club in Malibu, CA closed shortly after Glenn Campbell died. I think he kept it going, I saw him there one of the 3 times I played it. Interesting layout, crazy slopped greens on hillsides with elevation. I think it also got hit with one of the wildfires. Crazy to think a public access 18h course in Malibu, CA closed. Just shows you you can never take business for granted. 

[Unplayablelies]

Housing developments. Six courses in the greater San Diego area have closed over the past 15 year. They put houses up. Really really screwed over the folks that played then and those that at one time had golf course homes. Greed, pure and simple. 

[StrongTR]

More thank likely if there's interest in the property and the market is strong, a developer will build housing.  It could also just sit vacant as with a golf course in a rural part of my town that closed and remains vacant and overgrown.

[uitar9]

In our area, I know of 4 closures:

-A muni that closed 20 years ago-Still sitting-the city cuts the grass occasionally and tore down the clubhouse

-A commercial 9 hole-closed by the owner and developed into multiple level housing

-A commercial 18 hole taken over by the city for a LRT stop.

-A 9 hole muni shut down due to under use-Been sitting for three years.Apparently it was built on top of a very complex intersection of underground city services (Water electricity gas) and would need multi bucks to  reconfigure for development.