Desolation Row, december 12, 2014

     Ahwahnee, California. The clock is ticking on Sierra Meadows Golf Course, which is scheduled to close next week. Robert H. Bard, Jr. had hoped to make the 24-year-old venue the centerpiece of a 315-home community, but the Great Recession and development costs bled him dry. He thought that he’d found a buyer willing to continue operations at Sierra Meadows, but when the sale fell through he knew he was done. “From the beginning, the golf course has not made any money in spite of all our continued efforts and substantial investments,” he wrote in a letter to his customers, adding: “Sometimes events occur that are beyond our control, and no amount of effort and money can change the outcome.” Sierra Meadows, which is located just a short drive from Yosemite National Park, appears to be the only 18-hole course in the immediate area.

     Alpine, Alabama. An 18-hole, Robert Trent Jones-designed golf course in metropolitan Birmingham has ended its run. Alpine Bay Golf Club, the centerpiece of a resort community that opened in the early 1970s, used to boast that it “gives the golfer a feeling that is not found anywhere else in the country.” In recent years, however, the feeling has apparently mattered less, for the club has lost more than two-thirds of its members. “Younger people aren’t playing golf as much, and all of our older golf players are dying off or not able to play anymore physically,” said Shawn Rider, who lost the course to foreclosure two years ago. A Florida-based bank was hoping to get $410,000 for Alpine Bay. It now plans to auction the 148-acre property.

     Panama City, Florida. Bay Dunes Golf Course, a relative newcomer to the golf scene in Florida’s Panhandle, has bitten the dust, at least for the time being. The Panama City News Herald called the 21-year-old track, located atop a Bay County-owned landfill, “a place for average golfers to socialize and enjoy a round without breaking the bank.” The county doesn’t want to manage the 18-hole, Jack Cunningham-designed layout, though it would listen if a private-sector operator came forward with a proposal. One caveat: The course “is run down to the point [where] it needs major work,” according to a county official.

     Carmel, Indiana. The cloud that’s hung over Mohawk Hills Golf Club for a decade has finally been lifted: The nine-hole, Gary Kern-designed track closed on Halloween night and will soon make way for an apartment complex. The course’s fate was all but sealed a decade ago, when it was sold to a development group that was forced to wait out the Great Recession before it put the course to what it felt was a higher use.

     Godfrey, Illinois. Two years after it was foreclosed upon and a year after it declared for bankruptcy protection, Lockhaven Golf Club has kicked the bucket. In an open letter to the local community, the club’s owner wrote that “the decision that was made came after much consideration and only after all available options were exhausted.” Lockhaven, which had opened to public play in an attempt to survive, blamed its demise on “a declining, aging membership” and an inability to recruit the area’s younger golfers. Its 18-hole, Robert Bruce Harris-designed golf course opened in 1956, but the Alton Telegraph reports that the club’s “roots go back 100 years.”

     Williamsville, New York. A year ahead of schedule, a 70-year-old golf venue in suburban Buffalo has gone six feet under. Mensch Capital Partners bought Westwood Country Club in 2012 and announced that it would begin converting the 170-acre property into “a lifestyle center” (translation: houses, stores, and office space) in 2015. However, the firm has decided to close the club early and get a head start on an environmental clean-up. “The golf course has not been economically viable for many years, and the only reason it has remained open for the past three seasons is because Mensch has heavily subsidized its operations,” Mensch’s managing partner told Buffalo Business First. Most sources credit the design of Westwood’s golf course to William Harries, but some people believe the layout’s original nine was done by Willie Park, Jr.

     Corvallis, Oregon. Assuming that various legal and development-related obstacles can be cleared, an unidentified group aims to build houses on the 77 acres currently occupied Marysville Golf Course. The nine-hole track was built by Mode and Babe Hoselton in 1958, and it’s been in their family ever since. Although the Corvallis Gazette-Times reports that Marysville has “built a loyal following with its relaxed atmosphere and low greens fees,” its current owner, Doug Hoselton, no longer wishes to fight the prevailing economic winds. “I’m getting out,” he told the newspaper. “I’m 65. It’s time for me to retire.” The prospective buyer has reportedly offered $4.25 million for the golf course and an adjacent 16-acre parcel.

     Vallejo, California. Next week, the final rounds will be played at Joe Mortara Golf Course, a nine-hole, executive-length track located at the Solano County Fairgrounds. Like so many other modest U.S. courses, Joe Mortara slowly suffocated as the economy crumbled, its capital needs increased, and its customers aged out. “Our budget can no longer continue subsidizing a golf course that has been operating at a net loss each year,” the fairgrounds’ general manager told the Vallejo Times Herald. “Decreasing play, coupled with extensive maintenance and repair requirements over the last two years, make it unrealistic for us to keep the course open.” This year, the course celebrated its 40th anniversary.

     Lombard, Illinois. After taking tee times for a half-century, time appears to have run out on Ken-Loch Golf Links. The nine-hole, David Arthur Gill-designed golf course has been bleeding red ink in recent years, and a prospective new owner believes its 31 acres are an ideal site for an apartment complex. “We look forward to moving forward there and doing really high-quality development,” he told the Daily Herald. Last year, DuPage County officials laid a foundation for the property’s future by approving a rezoning.

     Sumner, Washington. After negotiating and deliberating for years, the city of Sumner has agreed to sell its financially troubled 18-hole golf course to a development group. The price: $53 million, or more than $344,000 an acre. Be honest: For such a price you’d sell too, as long as you could stand looking at warehouses and industrial space for the rest of your life.