The city of Palm Coast, Fla. took over operation of the club from KemperSports in 2017, and then received only one bid to run the restaurant. While that operator has made improvements and turned the Green Lion Café into a popular spot that is often “packed wall-to-wall,” its lease payments have covered less than half…
Owner of Watertown (N.Y.) GC, Fed Up Over “Political Debacle,” Threatens Development
The 95-year-old semi-private club sits in the middle of the city’s historic Thompson Park, with golfers using an overflow parking lot on city land. Ives Hill CC, another Watertown club, feels the parking agreement amounts to preferential treatment, and an ordinance has been brought forward by the city council to eliminate the lot. Watertown owner…
Spanish Golf Resort Must Be Demolished, High Court Rules
Following a 14-year legal battle, the Spanish Supreme Court has ruled that the luxury Marina Isla de Valdecañas development, also known as the “rural Marbella,” must be destroyed because it was built illegally in a protected natural area on an island in a reservoir. An environmental group has pushed for the property to be returned…
Forest Lakes GC Adds Lights to Driving Range and Putting Green
The Tifton, Ga. club is owned by the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and open to the public. Its 9-hole course is maintained by an elite group of the college’s environmental horticulture students, who use the golf facility as a learning lab for future employment in the turfgrass and golf course management industry. “We’re always trying…
Venetian GC Sold to Heritage Golf Group
The 19-year-old North Venice, Fla. club that features an 18-hole, Chip Powell-designed golf course and was developed as a Lennar Southwest Florida community that also includes the Venetian River Club will be the 18th property in the Heritage portfolio. Heritage plans to take the club private and solicit member/resident input for developing a capital plan, improving…
Plan Dropped to Irrigate Ocean Pines GC with Effluent Water
Worcester County (Md.) will not pursue a project to irrigate the 50-year-old Robert Trent Jones golf course at the Berlin, Md. course with effluent from the Ocean Pines community’s wastewater treatment plant, citing costs, area residents’ concerns and legal issues, including the need for an easement to construct and maintain the system. While some felt…
Roswell, N.M. City Officials Ask for Patience After Taking Over Nancy Lopez GC
(Photo by Juno Ogle/Roswell (N.M.) Daily Record) The state’s fifth-largest city took over management of the 93-year-old, 18-hole facility, which is named after the LPGA star who graduated from a local high school, at the beginning of the year, and immediately discovered incomplete records and the need to address policies and procedures “[officials] weren’t aware…
New Owners of Angus Lea GC Look to Create “Unapologetically Fun” Atmosphere
The nine-hole course in Hillsboro, N.H., owned by the Niven family since it opened in 1965, has been sold to a group with experience operating area restaurants. They plan a full remodel of the clubhouse to accommodate a full-service restaurant and wrap-around deck, along with the addition of indoor golf simulators and facilities for night…
Course Renovation at Salem CC Halted Over Tree Removal Issues
(Photo by Anne Marie Tobin/The Daily Item, Lynn, Mass.) After a site visit by the city of Peabody, Mass.’s Conservation Commission cited work connected with the club’s $3.5 million project that “may have impacted wetland-resource areas and/or associated buffer zones,” a cease-and-desist order was issued and representatives of the club and its tree service were…
New Restaurant Replaces One Closed by Labor Shortage at Tennessee Centennial GC
(Photo by Ben Pounds/The Oak Ridger) The 25-year-old club in Oak Ridge, Tenn. was making steady progress after the city took over ownership and management from Billy Casper Golf in 2018. But the operators of The Soulful Cup restaurant at the club decided to close in 2021, citing a shortage of staff. The city has…
COVID Funds Approved for Improvements at Putnam County (N.Y.) GC
The county’s legislature approved assigning $400,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to use for asbestos removal and other upgrades at the 63-year-old course, which it acquired in 2004 and converted from private to daily-fee. Two legislators and some from the general public objected, saying the funds could be used for projects with wider-ranging benefits,…
Plans for Manufacturing Site at Whaling City GC Move Forward
The plan to redevelop 100 acres of the 275-acre property occupied by the municipal course in New Bedford, Mass. has been five years in the making and is now on its way to the governor’s desk after getting final approval from the state legislature. The project to create 1 million sq. ft. of new industrial/office…
New Restaurant at Muskegon (Mich.) CC to be Called Lake Bluff Grille
The 113-year-old club was purchased by the RedWater Collection, which operates golf clubs in western Michigan as well as a restaurant group. Opening of the new restaurant, which will replace the club’s former Se4sons Gastropub, is planned for the spring of 2022. Entrees can be served on 500-degree fire rocks, and there will also be…
Cambridge, Mass. Course Spared Hole Reductions
(Photo by Marc Levy/Cambridge Day) A draft of a City Council order that sought to study whether the land occupied by the nine-hole Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr. Golf Course, also known as the Fresh Pond Golf Course, was being used “in the best way” led to public outcry from golf advocates, who expressed concern that…
Medina (Ohio) CC Plans $1.6M Indoor Teaching Facility
As one of the first improvements announced for the club under its new ownership, construction for the 10,000-sq. ft. facility will begin later in 2022, with completion scheduled for 2023. The club is also launching golf classes through a new Jim Wise Golf Academy that will open on March 1, 2022, through its partnership with…