Drought conditions, rising maintenance costs and fewer players are making it no longer financially viable to keep the nearly 50-year-old course in Camarillo, Calif., open, its owner said. Alternative uses are being sought for the 109-acre property that would appeal to community residents, who successfully fought a proposed 2,500-home development two years ago.
The owner of Camarillo Springs Golf Course in Camarillo, Calif., a fixture near the base of the Conejo Grade of the Ventura Freeway for nearly 50 years, is considering closing the grounds and finding alternative uses for the property, the Ventura County (Calif.) Star reported.
Rising maintenance costs, especially during a severe drought, and a decline in the number of people playing the sport mean Chameleon Springs LLC can no longer afford to keep the current configuration afloat, said Ronald Richards, manager for the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based business, the Star reported.
“Efforts to upgrade or even just maintain a basic, working operation is not a financially viable option for Chameleon Springs LLC, as the course sits today,” company representatives wrote in an October 14 letter to area homeowners, the Star reported.
Chameleon officials said in the letter that the golf course, which was built in the 1970s, “requires a number of overdue infrastructure repairs that are cost-prohibitive, given the headwinds faced by the golf industry,” the Star reported.
Furthermore, they stated, “the course is not environmentally sustainable, using more than 40 million gallons of water each year.”
News of the potential change has stirred the Camarillo Springs community, which two years ago successfully fought the proposed Conejo Creek development that would have brought 2,500 houses and industrial and commercial space to the neighborhood south of Highway 101, the Star reported.
Chameleon Springs LLC bought the 109-acre golf course property last year for an undisclosed sum, the Star reported. Company representatives are now engaged in community outreach to determine alternative uses for the land that would appeal to neighbors and generate revenue, Richards said.
“There’s no economic advantage to do something that nobody wants,” Richards said. “But a golf course may not necessarily be what most people want. It’s expensive, and people are working. They don’t have time. They might say they want open space or a rec center.”
For example, Richards said, the community may desire drought-resistant landscaping and trails, and agree to set aside a portion of the land for housing units “or whatever makes sense,” the Star reported.
“All Californians are happy with their property values when you improve the assets around it by improving the infrastructure and reconfiguring the property,” he said. “It’s a boon for the community and it’s a net positive for everyone.”
One of the groups that company representatives met with was the Camarillo Springs Senior Men’s Golf Club, whose members are upset by the prospect of losing their playground, as well as the money they have already paid for their annual memberships, the Star reported.
“We’re horrified,” said Leon Helfet, the club President, who lives about three miles from the course. “You have these retirees who are finally able to buy a mobile home around the golf course, and you think you’ve died and gone to heaven.
“And then this developer comes in with the express goal of taking that all away.”
Helfet said he plays at the course about three times a week. “It’s a wonderful design, it’s convenient and it’s affordable, particularly when you play on an annual membership,” he told the Star.
Members are concerned they won’t get a refund on their outstanding balance, should the course close before year’s end, Helfet added. An annual membership is $2,000.
Member Harold Hamilton, who lives in a second-floor condominium near the 10th tee, said he would miss not only playing on the course but also the quiet moments when deer, birds and other wildlife visit the fairway.
“You close it up, you affect every bit of the environment around it,” Hamilton told the Star. “They come in with the idea that the more concrete you put down, the better the world will be. It may be good for your pocketbook, but it’s not good for us.”
But there is one issue Hamilton, Helfet and Chameleon agree on: The course and its structures are in disrepair, which keeps golfers away.
“What’s really hurt the course is they’ve done nothing to promote it or make it better,” Hamilton said. “It’s run down, and its reputation is so negative that it gets less play.”
Mario Garcia, a golf club member who lives three blocks away in the Camarillo Springs Country Club Village mobile home park, said he wants the course to stay.
“It’s an eye-catcher. From afar, it’s a beautiful golf course,” said Garcia, who plays there five days a week. “It’s a frustrating feeling for me, not knowing what’s going to happen. Is our backyard going to be a shopping center? Condos? Full of people? Everything is getting so congested as it is.”
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