Desolation Row, june 26, 2015

     San Diego, California. Riverwalk Golf Club is a dead man walking. In the not too distant future -- by, say, 2017 or 2018 -- the flood-prone 27-hole complex, created by Ted Robinson in the late 1990s, will gradually begin to erode, nine holes at a time, and be replaced with 4,000 condos and apartments. “There aren’t too many 200-acre sites in coastal California left,” a developer told the San Diego Union-Tribune, “much less that have a river running through it and also mass transit.” Back in the 1950s, when the property had 18 holes and was known as Mission Valley Country Club (it became Stardust Country Club in the early 1960s), it hosted the PGA Tour’s San Diego Open, crowning Gary Player, Billy Casper, and Tommy Bolt (among others) as winners. Riverwalk is owned by Steve Cushman and members of his family. The property has been in the family since the 1870s.

     North Port, Florida. Regarding the new “replica” golf course that was to be built at Sabal Trace Golf & Country Club: Forget about it. Charlotte Golf Partners has pulled the plug on Sabal Trace and its 18-hole, Charles Ankrom-designed layout. The club, in metropolitan Sarasota, had been in business since the early 1970s. CGP blames its lender for the club’s demise, as it posted a message on Sabal Trace’s website saying that it couldn’t negotiate an extension on a loan that’s been in place for five years. The lender may have a different story, but it isn’t talking.

     Hemlock, Michigan. Jim Kruszynski and Gregg Matekel have stopped trying to resuscitate Maple Hill Golf Club, in suburban Saginaw. The duo purchased the 64-year-old club last year, after it had closed for the season, and had hoped to re-open it this spring, as a “no-frills” private venue. To do so, however, they needed to sign 200 members, and they couldn’t come anywhere close. “We even lowered our goal to 140 members, just to try to make it work, and we only got 67,” Matekel told the Saginaw News. “It was sad. We had, you know, put a lot of effort into it, and it just wasn’t going to work.” The new owners say that they don’t know what they’re going to do with the property, but it’s worth noting that Matekel works in real estate and owns a home-building company.

     Marion, Indiana. The end is near for Shady Hills Golf Course. James Swan, who’s in the real estate business, has purchased the 18-hole, Bill Diddel-designed track at a public auction, reportedly for $725,000. Swan doesn’t figure to operate Shady Hills beyond the current season. “We’re going to develop it,” he told the Marion Chronicle-Tribune. Shady Hills made its debut in the early 1930s.

     Cordova, Tennessee. The future of Cordova Club, which occupies 88 acres in suburban Memphis, is “very much in doubt,” according to the president of the surrounding homeowners’ association, although it may ultimately be saved by a restrictive covenant. “It didn’t have enough play, like so many other golf courses around town,” the course’s operator told the Memphis Commercial Appeal in April, after he shuttered the property. “It’s a tough, tough, tough business.” An ownership mess is compounding the uncertainty surrounding Cordova, for the club’s 18-hole golf course is owned by one party (a church group, Baptist Missions, Inc.), while its clubhouse is owned by the lessee, Cordova Financial Group Partnership. The clubhouse is already under contract to be sold. The course may sit idle for a while, however, as the home owners in the accompanying subdivision contend that it can only be used for golf purposes. “We intend to use every resource to enforce that covenant if necessary,” the association’s president wrote in a letter to his neighbors. And here’s another red flag for prospective buyers: Cordova reportedly had only about 100 members when it closed.

     Charlottesville, Virginia. McIntire Park Golf Course has finally and perhaps mercifully reached the end of the line. The nine-hole layout, opened originally in 1930, still had sand greens and was only minimally maintained, as the city charged just $2 for all-day play. McIntire Park was effectively doomed years ago, when the city unveiled a master plan that proposed new uses for its site. Still, the track wasn’t supposed to close until December 2016.

     Erie, Pennsylvania. Roughly half of Gospel Hill Golf Course disappeared years ago, and the rest will disappear shortly. The track, which once had 18 holes, is owned by Penn State University’s Behrend College, which no longer wishes to fund its operating expenses. “It just doesn't fit our purpose,” a spokesperson for the college told the Erie Times-News. “There is significant expense in maintaining it, including a full-time groundskeeper, additional support, and the costs of fertilizer and mowing equipment.” Gospel Hill opened in two phases, in 1962 and 1966. The college bought the course in 2010 and allowed local residents to play it for free. The school figures to eventually develop the 118-acre property.

     Rio Rancho, New Mexico. It’s been a foregone conclusion, but now it’s official: The long-abandoned North nine at Club Rio Rancho will never again operate as a golf course. The club’s owner, Jhett Browne, has struck an agreement with a big national home builder that intends to put 180 houses on the 67-acre tract. The sale may signal a turnaround in the fortunes of Club Rio Rancho, a struggling venue that formerly operated as Rio Rancho Country Club and Chamisa Hills Golf & Country Club. Club Rio Rancho has a pair of remaining nines, one designed by Desmond Muirhead and one designed by Gene Sarazen.

     Duluth, Georgia. Pending approval by government officials, an apartment complex is going to take shape on the 45 acres occupied by Georgia Trail at Sugarloaf. The nine-hole course calls itself “the perfect location for a complete golf experience the entire family can enjoy,” but Brand Properties believes that 290 apartments would “protect and promote the quality of life of the surrounding community while allowing the property to be developed to its highest and best use.” It appears that local planners support the developers’ request for a rezoning.

     Wichita, Kansas. After operating for nearly a century, Braeburn Golf Course will close on November 3, 2015. The handwriting has been on the wall for Braeburn since the late 1960s, when it was acquired as a site for expansion by Wichita State University. Now the anticipated expansion is about to arrive, in the form of what the school calls an “innovation campus.” Braeburn opened in the early 1920s, as Crestview Country Club. A few of its holes will be maintained, to serve as a practice area for the university’s golf teams.