Desolation Row, november 11, 2016

     Plainville, Massachusetts. What’s been described as a “massive” community for so-called active adults may soon replace the 27-hole golf complex at Heather Hill Country Club. The 225-acre club has been owned by the Poholek family since 1982, but play has declined in recent years and home builders have been knocking at the door. The family accepted an offer when it decided that the 18 holes at their other golf course, nearby Wentworth Hills Golf Club, could satisfy the current demand. Heather Hill’s golf complex will continue to operate until residential construction begins, whenever that day arrives, and it may be closed in nine-hole increments.

     Beaumont, Texas. Time has run out on Bayou Din Golf Club. For George W. Brown III, the club’s owner, the numbers tell the story: In 2005, his 27-hole complex rang up 54,000 rounds, a number that’s slipped under 30,000 in each of the past two years. “My hope was that 2016 would be the year the business turned around,” Brown told the Beaumont Enterprise. “I just don’t see an enthusiasm for golf.” Bayou Din’s original 18-hole track opened in 1959, and Brown added the venue’s “Links Nine” in 1993. The facility will close on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

     Peterborough, New Hampshire. The end of the 2016 golf season was the end of the line for one of the state’s oldest golf properties. Monadnock Country Club, a going concern since 1901, turned out its lights for the last time on Halloween, a victim, reportedly, of membership losses that led to a loss of revenues. The club, the centerpiece of an artists’ retreat, featured a nine-hole, executive-length course.

     Monroe, Michigan. A health-care company has a prescription for what ails the 40-year-old Raisin River Golf Club: A repurposing. Beginning most likely in 2020, ProMedica plans to build a new hospital on the club’s 250-acre property. The club and its 18-hole, William Maddox-designed golf course is expected to operate at least through 2018.

     Leesburg, Georgia. Speaking of hospitals, Lee County wants to build one on the property currently occupied by Grand Island Golf Course. Selling the course was an easy decision for the county, because Grand Island, which has operated since 1995, is reportedly “losing money.” The blinds will be pulled on the 18-hole layout next month.

     Salem, Oregon. The owners of Creekside Golf Club have delivered an ultimatum to city officials: Reduce our water bill or we’ll close our golf course. It’s what Donald “the President-Elect” Trump would call a negotiating position. But there’s still a ways to go before Larry Tokarski and Terry Kelly, the club’s co-owners, discontinue play on their 18-hole, Peter Jacobsen/Jim Hardy golf course, because the city hasn’t made a final decision and the issue is complicated by a lawsuit filed by an angry, worried group of home owners in the Creekside community. The case goes to trial in January.

     Shreveport, Louisiana. Seven years after a change in ownership, Shreveport Country Club and its 18-hole golf course have gone belly up. “People are so busy these days, they don’t have time to golf like they used to,” the Reverend Denny Duron told the Shreveport Times. He added: “We’re just at a place financially where it’s tough to continue.” Shreveport opened in 1909, and a non-profit group controlled by Duron assumed control of it in 2009. Now that the club has closed, Duron needs to figure out what to do with its 186 acres.

     La Vista, Nebraska. After years of covering losses, weary city officials have pulled the plug on La Vista Falls Golf Course. The nine-hole, executive-length golf course will become a park. The course opened in 1992, and the city has been forced to provide $125,000 to it in each of the past two years.

     Auburn, Washington. After 26 years in business, Jade Greens Golf Course has reached the end of the line. The track will close at the end of the month. “We had a great run as a little nine-hole course out here,” Jim Hawk, the course’s owner, told the Auburn Reporter. “But times change, and things get a little different.” The course was designed by Hawk’s father, on land that’s been in the family since the 1960s. The family still hasn’t decided what to do with the property.