Another One Bites The Dust

[tp280]

Is your community loosing courses as well?

Course closures continue in Northern Nevada

http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012120308014

Reno (NV) has lost the following course over the last few years:
Northgate
Brookside
Crystal Peak
and as of yesterday D'Andrea

In Trouble: (Next to fall)?
All nine regional private/semi-private courses
Rosewood Lakes-City Of Reno will take the money and run; http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/rgj/access/2578154231.html?FMT=ABS&date=Feb+03%2C+2012 (archived RGJ pay-for-view link discussing deal with Regional Transportation to build a connector road through the course and pay the City of Reno $7.5M which they will have the option to use the money elsewhere {to balance their budget instead of rebuilding the course}. Course likely to end at groundbreaking of road).

Anyone else seeing golf dissapearing in their community at this alarming rate?

[SlapShotGolfer]

The par 3 course I learned to play golf on closed in the last couple years to make room for a residential and commercial development, it was very sad to see it go along with it's green space and trees.

[tp280]

D'Andrea, owners pulling the plug over water costs, unable to sell it?

Brookside was a nine hole course (City leased from the Airport Authority) that was great for seniors and beginners, The AA needed the property to build a new control tower.

Crystal Peak, Nice Mark Love nine holer, BK.

Northgate, (Former tournament course for Nationwide (Hogan) tour events. The Reno Sparks Convention & Visitor Authority, (RSCVA) had no clue on how to market it locally, or to convention groups, (tough links layout, once played a six hour sectional PGA event there). The land was deeded to the RSCVA for golf, could never be sold for real estate, course abandoned.

[Guia]

The problem here (New Mexico) is that the price of water is rising and courses can't afford the water needed to keep the course playable. There is a real threat that several of the city courses may close in the next few years.

[umaynome]

All of the courses near me are tight. None are loose.

[UngiftedGolfer]

Slapshot, are you in Lincoln and talking about the old North Forty golf course with Beatty's Back Nine? That was a fun little course and it was sad to see it go.

[tp280]

After a great water year in '10/11, '11/12 is a complete bust. At Wildcreek (the remaining course the RSCVA runs, back in '91, another bust water year), they pulled the water, and I remember playing a June tourney with gravel everywhere except the greens and tees, the course was totally gone outside of that. It took five years after that to get it back to something a vacationing golfer would be happy to play. The water rights were worse back then, I beleive they have an effluent deal that should prevent that drastic an event now.

[MA golfer23]

I'm in Western MA and there are at least 5 courses in the area that are either closing, in serious trouble, or are being bought out for real cheap. Sad to see, but it will actually probably help golf in the area as there are too many courses around relative to demand at this point.

[Chappie]

We lost a great public course in Center Valley Golf Club. Awesome track, well maintained, but way over-priced and with this economy they pretty much shot themselves in the foot. Never adjusted rates after the market fell and never recovered, especially when there are other courses in this area that are of the same quality for less.

[Drewmun]

[quote name='MA golfer23' timestamp='1331351168' post='4474215']
I'm in Western MA and there are at least 5 courses in the area that are either closing, in serious trouble, or are being bought out for real cheap. Sad to see, but it will actually probably help golf in the area as there are too many courses around relative to demand at this point.
[/quote]
What courses are closing in your area?

[Truman]

Simple supply and demand. As golf continues to lose participants, fewer golf course are needed. In many metro areas local govt is forced to choose between cutting services or supplementing golf courses. Most golfers are unwilling to pay the full cost of golf so local govt has to supplement it.

[hef63303]

There will be more closings. There are fewer golfers and the average green fee paid has fallen dramatically. A lot of courses are having a hard time creating enough revenue to cover maintenance costs. This is the reason that most courses have cut back on maintenance.

[MA golfer23]

[quote name='Drewmun' timestamp='1331427895' post='4479119']
[quote name='MA golfer23' timestamp='1331351168' post='4474215']
I'm in Western MA and there are at least 5 courses in the area that are either closing, in serious trouble, or are being bought out for real cheap. Sad to see, but it will actually probably help golf in the area as there are too many courses around relative to demand at this point.
[/quote]
What courses are closing in your area?
[/quote]

I'm not specifically sure about courses closing yet as there are people potentially buying out courses and there's missing details on a lot of what is going on. But, I can say that several courses are in the process of being bought out / on the verge of closing. Hickory Ridge CC, Elmcrest CC, Hampden CC, and Northampton CC are coming to mind right now but I believe there are more. A mix of private / semiprivate courses from the area. Not sure what's going to happen for these courses in the near future, but it's not pretty right now.

[hoselrocketman]

[quote name='MA golfer23' timestamp='1331437270' post='4480083']
[quote name='Drewmun' timestamp='1331427895' post='4479119']
[quote name='MA golfer23' timestamp='1331351168' post='4474215']
I'm in Western MA and there are at least 5 courses in the area that are either closing, in serious trouble, or are being bought out for real cheap. Sad to see, but it will actually probably help golf in the area as there are too many courses around relative to demand at this point.
[/quote]
What courses are closing in your area?
[/quote]

I'm not specifically sure about courses closing yet as there are people potentially buying out courses and there's missing details on a lot of what is going on. But, I can say that several courses are in the process of being bought out / on the verge of closing. Hickory Ridge CC, Elmcrest CC, Hampden CC, and Northampton CC are coming to mind right now but I believe there are more. A mix of private / semiprivate courses from the area. Not sure what's going to happen for these courses in the near future, but it's not pretty right now.
[/quote]


Lots of courses in the Myrtle Beach/Sunset Beach, NC area are closed or in big trouble: Marsh Harbor and Ocean Harbor in Calabash have been closed for years, Thistle is in trouble, Sea Trail with three courses is on the edge, the Cats owner had to claim bankruptcy or something financial and although the courses are still open, they had to black out the big sign on Hiway 17 that said "Ocean Ridge, a top 100 Golf community", I think they are hanging by a thread. As soon as the economy rebounds I think they will all be healthy and busy again but the owners are sweatin it right now.....

[miuratiteleist55]

[quote]Lots of courses in the Myrtle Beach/Sunset Beach, NC area are closed or in big trouble: Marsh Harbor and Ocean Harbor in Calabash have been closed for years, Thistle is in trouble, Sea Trail with three courses is on the edge, the Cats owner had to claim bankruptcy or something financial and although the courses are still open, they had to black out the big sign on Hiway 17 that said "Ocean Ridge, a top 100 Golf community", I think they are hanging by a thread. As soon as the economy rebounds I think they will all be healthy and busy again but the owners are sweatin it right now.....


[/quote]

You really think the economy is going to recover in the next 10-15 years

[hoselrocketman]

[quote name='miuratiteleist55' timestamp='1335565925' post='4802710']
[quote]Lots of courses in the Myrtle Beach/Sunset Beach, NC area are closed or in big trouble: Marsh Harbor and Ocean Harbor in Calabash have been closed for years, Thistle is in trouble, Sea Trail with three courses is on the edge, the Cats owner had to claim bankruptcy or something financial and although the courses are still open, they had to black out the big sign on Hiway 17 that said "Ocean Ridge, a top 100 Golf community", I think they are hanging by a thread. As soon as the economy rebounds I think they will all be healthy and busy again but the owners are sweatin it right now.....


[/quote]

You really think the economy is going to recover in the next 10-15 years
[/quote]

I hope so but the realistic outlook is dismal. As we "boomers" die off by the millions in the next several years that will leave a lot of housing unoccupied or in bad repair to further exacerbate the miserable real estate market. Things just don't look very good ahead.

[tp280]

Bringing back my horrible thread from spring as I read an article in our business week (Northern Nevada regional business), about more course closings. A photo of the D'Andrea, (discussed above) shows complete loss of all turf, no investor would dare consider it. Next year the sage will have taken over by this time, What do you do with the fancy clubhouse, bulldoze it down?

[url="http://www.nnbw.com/ArticleRead.aspx?storyID=20130"]http://www.nnbw.com/ArticleRead.aspx?storyID=20130[/url]

Genoa Lakes Resort Course (Carson Valley, designed by Johnny Miller and John Harbottle) will close at the end of the month if it doesn't sell. Note, the owner redesigned the course to sell real-estate and the bastardised (in-house work) result was something if I were one of the architects I would have filed suit to keep my name off the project.

The other course in chapter 11 reorganization is Empire Ranch a 27-hole muni that offered nice every-day pricing and appeal. I wish them the best, its a nice facility for everyday play, but they have lost their conditions, and player base.

How's your community doing since spring?

[ptjn1201]

[quote name='Chappie' timestamp='1331352981' post='4474359']
We lost a great public course in Center Valley Golf Club. Awesome track, well maintained, but way over-priced and with this economy they pretty much shot themselves in the foot. Never adjusted rates after the market fell and never recovered, especially when there are other courses in this area that are of the same quality for less.
[/quote]
Sad to hear about Center Valley -- I had played there once about 13-15 years ago and thought it was a nice course. A bit off the beaten track for somebody from NY. Had trouble getting my car started after the round and AAA had absolutely no clue where I was talking about. Finally got it going after about an hour.

[dporto]

In my area (Eastern Long Island, NY) public prices have all gone up over the past year (although they do run a lot of specials). Drought also hasn't been an issue as it has out West. It seemms like the mid-priced privates are struggling to retain memberships and running promotions to sign up new members. We'll see what the future brings...

[SHIVAN]

[quote name='miuratiteleist55' timestamp='1335565925' post='4802710']
[quote]Lots of courses in the Myrtle Beach/Sunset Beach, NC area are closed or in big trouble: Marsh Harbor and Ocean Harbor in Calabash have been closed for years, Thistle is in trouble, Sea Trail with three courses is on the edge, the Cats owner had to claim bankruptcy or something financial and although the courses are still open, they had to black out the big sign on Hiway 17 that said "Ocean Ridge, a top 100 Golf community", I think they are hanging by a thread. As soon as the economy rebounds I think they will all be healthy and busy again but the owners are sweatin it right now.....


[/quote]

You really think the economy is going to recover in the next 10-15 years
[/quote]

Nope, when Japan did pretty much what we're doing now, in regards to Federal economic policy, they had a "Lost Decade" of stagnation. Since we want to be so much like Europe and the rest of the world, we refused to learn from others' mistakes. We might grow, but at a nearly stagnant rate.