San Bernardino, California. The golf course that got 15 minutes of fame during the recent terrorist shootings in San Bernardino may soon be history. San Bernardino Golf Club, a venue that dates from 1969, is located across the street from the office building where the killings took place, and some survivors took refuge on its grounds. Now the course’s owner, the city of Riverside, is negotiating with a development group that hopes to turn the club’s 62 acres into an industrial park. The city of San Bernardino hasn’t yet weighed in on the proposal, but it’s bankrupt and may therefore welcome the jobs that development might bring.
Lexington, South Carolina. It’s time to cue the theme from “Dragnet,” because the 12-hole StoneBridge Golf Course has been sold to a home builder. A division of D. R. Horton appears to have paid between $900,000 and $1 million for the par-3 track, figuring that its 20 acres can comfortably accommodate 150 houses. The seller, Tom Wingard, opened StoneBridge in 2007, just as the economy was being flushed down the proverbial toilet, and he told the State that operating the course had become “a struggle.”
Mount Juliet, Tennessee. The clock is ticking on Windtree Golf Course, a venue that’s been around since either 1986 or 1991, depending on who’s writing the history. The course’s co-owners, Monty Mires and Danny Hale, have concluded that suburban Nashville needs more houses, so they’ve petitioned for a rezoning that will allow them to build 400 of them. If local officials approve their plans, the partners will turn Windtree’s clubhouse into a community center, and they may preserve a few of the course’s John LaFoy-designed holes, a sentimental gesture that some prospective home buyers may appreciate.
Pelican Rapids, Minnesota. In its next life, Rolling Hills Golf Course will be an RV park. The nine-hole, 42-acre course, designed by Jimmy Flem, has been owned by members of the Flem family since it opened in 1966. They plan to sell it to a fellow who originally tried to buy it in 2013.
Wesley Chapel, Florida. Quail Hollow Golf & Country Club, which claims to have “one of the finest 18-hole championship golf courses in the state of Florida,” is officially on the endangered list. Quail Hollow was established in the mid 1960s but went out of business during the Great Recession, and now its owner, an LLC controlled by Andre Carollo, aims to capitalize on an improving economy by turning the club’s 175 acres into a gated community of 400 homes. It’s a significant change of direction for Carollo, who purchased Quail Hollow in 2010, reportedly for $1.7 million, and reopened the club a year later. Obviously, the golf business wasn’t all he’d hoped it would be.
Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The local army base has decided to close its golf course. Citing “a steady decline in memberships and daily play,” Pine Bluff Arsenal expects to turn out the lights at Pine Haven Golf Course by the end of the month. The course’s nine-hole layout opened in 1948.
Vacaville, California. Time has run out on Green Tree Golf Club, a 27-hole venue that’s operated since the early 1960s. “The golf course has not been economically viable for many years,” said Jim Syar, a member of the family that’s owned the property from the beginning. The numbers tell the story: According to the Reporter, Green Tree once rang up more than 110,000 rounds of golf a year, but today it gets only about 30,000. The property’s 18-hole course was designed by William F. Bell.
Moore, Oklahoma. If local officials can be persuaded, Broadmoore Golf Course is going to become a subdivision. The course has operated since 1962, and a local television station says that home owners in the Broadmoore community “are furious about the possibility of more homes being built there.”
Delaware, Ohio. If a proposal submitted by T&G Properties is approved, Delaware Golf Club is going to lose nine of its 18 holes. So you tell me: Will T&G close Delaware’s Donald Ross-designed holes, its Michael Hurdzan/Fuzzy Zoeller-designed holes, or a combination of both?
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