Desolation Row, november 7, 2014

     Shorewood, Minnesota. Just two years short of its 100th anniversary, Minnetonka Country Club has cashed in its chips. KARE-TV reports that the club’s course, with an original nine by Tom Bendelow, is one of 15 in greater Minneapolis that has closed since 2005. “The local players and the community do not like to see them go,” the executive director of the state’s golf association told the station, “but, unfortunately, it is a reality in our business.” Needless to say, Minnetonka was among the state’s oldest golf properties. Its owner, Bill Witrak, hopes to find a buyer, but he believes his property’s conversion to houses is “inevitable.”

     Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Circle the date: December 14, 2014. Assuming that his plans don’t change, that’s when Roy Clyburn will turn out the lights at Heron Point Golf Club, a venue that’s welcomed golfers on the Grand Strand since 1988. The club’s Willard Byrd-designed course needs to be upgraded, and Clyburn figures that an investment in his struggling property would be money down the drain. “I don’t think it would ever be profitable, not in this market,” he told the Myrtle Beach Sun-News. “Every course to some degree is struggling.” The good news for Clyburn: The club’s 155-acre property is zoned residential.

     Colton, California. The city of Colton has decided to snuff out a golf course that was co-designed by Sam Snead and Robert Trent Jones. The executive-length track at Colton Golf Club got its start in 1963, as Sam Snead All-American Golf Club, and was reportedly one of 10 similarly short, lighted venues that Snead and Jones opened across the country. Bob Mastalski, who purchased the course and named it after the city in 1992, reportedly wants to give it a makeover, but the city has denied his request for permits. According to the Colton Courier, the master plan for the property calls for a shopping area, a hotel, and a university.

     Dunnellon, Florida. The sands of time will soon run out on Rainbow Springs Golf & Country Club. If he can’t find a buyer -- and he’s been trying for more than three years -- Mark Kaprelian plans to close the 35-year-old club and its 18-hole, Joe Lee-designed golf course by the end of the year. Kaprelian reportedly paid $2.4 million for the property in 2010. When he listed it for sale, he was hoping to get $3 million for it.

     Flint, Michigan. Mott Park Golf Course has been forsaken by its last, best hope. The citizens’ group that wished to reopen the city’s defunct, nine-hole track has abandoned its plans, citing restoration costs that it simply can’t justify. “In total, the whole renovation of the course would cost probably around $700,000 to $800,000,” a member of the group’s board told the Flint Journal. She and her colleagues aren’t willing to spend that kind of money, she said, because “golf is an old guy’s game.” Mott Park’s course opened in 1923. The citizens’ group hopes to operate a driving range on the property, along with a course for Frisbee golf.

     Mahwah, New Jersey. The clock is ticking on KemperSports’ term as the operator of Apple Ridge Country Club. Ridgewood Real Estate Partners, the group that bought the club last summer, figures to maintain the club only until it can be transformed into something more profitable. “The intention is to develop it into housing at some point,” the club’s general manager told the Bergen Record. “However long that might take.” Apple Ridge features a Hal Purdy-designed course that opened in 1966. One of KemperSports’ goals was to attract new members, a task that may now prove to be impossible.

     Magalia, California. A year after he put Paradise Pines Golf Course on the market, Bob Fortino has decided to cut his losses. He pulled the plug on his nine-hole track on Halloween. “The rounds of golf were not adequate to support ongoing operations and expenses,” he told the Paradise Post. Paradise Pines’ Bob Baldock-designed course opened in 1971. Fortino, the owner of a local property-management firm, claims not to have any plans for the 40-acre property, but the newspaper says he believes it’s “more valuable if it is used for other purposes.”

     Peoria, Illinois. The Peoria Park District, facing what it says is a $1.36 million budget shortfall, has decided to save some money by closing one of its five golf properties. The sacrificial lamb will be Donovan Golf Course, an 18-hole layout that’s operated since 1929. The track will ring up its final rounds at the end of the 2014 golf season and eventually become a park. There’s a silver lining to this dark cloud, however: To make up for hurt feelings among some local golfers, the park district intends to invest in improvements at Newman Golf Course, an 18-hole track that opened in 1931 and desperately needs new greens.

     Baytown, Texas. Back in April, Goose Creek Country Club bit the dust. A development group eager to build a subdivision had offered $3 million for the club’s property, but the Baytown Sun reports that the expected $3 million sale has fallen through. According to the newspaper, “the property now faces foreclosure and forced sale.”