The 83-year-old property was acquired by the city of Portland, Ore., and will be divided into an industrial development, park space and a nine-hole, par-three golf course and driving range.
Colwood National Golf Course, an 83-year-old property in Portland, Ore., has closed its doors, the Portland-based Oregon Live reported.
Acquired by the City of Portland, the property will be divided between industrial development, park space and a nine-hole, par-three golf course and driving range. Across from the stately white clubhouse, restaurant and pro shop, which will remain, will be a five-hole practice area, Live reported.
A community of regular players returned to Colwood for its final days. All tee times were booked, Live reported.
Kendall Schaffer, course superintendent, tried to be enthusiastic about the new plans for the land he has helped groom since 1987. By the time the new course opens next spring, he will be happy to see golf back on the property, Live reported.
“It’s mixed emotions, actually,” Schaffer said about pleasure that golf would still be a part of Colwood; but sadness over losing the classically designed 18-hole landmark, Live reported.
Toby Tommaso, Colwood’s head golf professional and General Manager, thinks of the course “as an oasis in the city,” offering respite from the loud industrial neighborhood by the time you reach the first green. “It’s just a dying breed that we don’t see these types of facilities around.”
The women’s golf school at Colwood, was the first such school in America when it began 50 years ago. Tommaso estimated that 20,000 women learned to golf at Colwood. Two of them, Patty Reyes and Barbara Stonewall, have been playing at Colwood every Thursday since taking lessons together three years ago. They said they haven’t actually played anywhere else—but now they are looking for a new course, Live reported.
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