(Photo by Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun) The 61-year-old club with 27 holes designed by Billy Bell, Jr. helped to define the Coachella Valley as a golfing paradise and holds the distinction of being the site of Arnold Palmer’s last PGA Tour win. But with membership down to under 150 equity members, it was open to…
Tampa-Area Topgolf to Add Mini Golf Course
The plans to add the 11,443-sq. ft. course at the Brandon, Fla. location that opened in 2014 have been filed with the local water management district. The proposed course would take over an existing parking lot and landscaping next to the three-story driving range. A Topgolf in Jacksonville, Fla. is adding a 12-hole course that…
Latest Club-Donation Offer Met With Extreme Skepticism
The owner of Rio Rancho (N.M.) CC, which had its clubhouse destroyed by a “highly suspicious” fire earlier this month and has had its golf course closed for several years, has offered to donate the club’s land to the city of Rio Rancho, noting that it would be able to use “free” city water to…
Feral Hogs Root Up Rough at Castle Oaks GC
One of the hogs also charged a golfer at the Ione, Calif. club who got away unharmed, before both animals were shooed away by Castle Oaks’ General Manager and another golfer. The damage was limited to rough on either side of the club’s 17th hole, but extensive reseeding will still be needed to restore the turf.
Stonebridge GC Adds Launchbox Golf to Its Driving Range
Launchbox Golf, powered by Toptracer, is a virtual golf entertainment platform using flight-tracking technology in a social setting. Patrick Kirn, General Manager of the Rome, Ga. facility, said, “The program will offer a new and fun alternative to a normal range session or round of golf on the course.”
Metroparks Toledo (Ohio) Expanding with Golf Course Purchases
Spuyten Duyval Golf Course and Cottonwood Creek Golf Course will be sold December 31. When the sale is completed, 226 acres will be added to Secor Metropark. Both the purchase of the property and the subsequent restoration plan will be paid for by a $510,000 grant from the U.S. EPA as well as a $2.9…
Residents Fight Potential Course Closings in Ohio, Illinois
Both the Sinnissippi Golf Course in Rockford, Ill. and Cossett Creek Golf Course in Brunswick Hills Township, Ohio are up for possible redevelopment. While citizens seem to have an emotional attachment to the Illinois course, residents in Ohio fear a new subdivision would create more traffic issues, potential problems with over-crowding at area schools, water…
Troon Partners with True Spec Golf
The partnership will expand True Spec Golf’s Mobile Fit program and studios at Troon locations around the United States and offer Troon customers and members special rates and exclusive offers for club fitting and building services.
Owners Announce Indian Wells GC Closing
Founders Group International said the Myrtle Beach property will close in December—despite being profitable—to make way for a housing development. The golf course is currently zoned SF6, which allows for single-family homes with minimum lot sizes of 6,000 sq. ft. – the equivalent of about seven homes per acre. Residents of developments around the course…
Group Sues California Cities to Stop the Sale of Willowick GC
The Orange County nonprofit, OCCORD, sued the cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove on behalf of the Rise Up Willowick Coalition. The cities are considering 12 proposals submitted to redevelop the land when the golf course lease ends next year. The lawsuit alleges the cities violated the state’s Surplus Land Act, which calls for…
Former Brandywine CC Being Acquired by National Parks
The 215-acre golf course in Peninsula, Ohio, which has been closed since 2018, will become part of the 33,000-acre Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The land includes three buildings, including a clubhouse and a two-bedroom, one-bathroom bungalow. Funding is expected to include federal land acquisition money with the help of the Trust for Public Land and…
Westpark GC Closes Abruptly
The Leesburg, Va. club was purchased by homebuilder Lennar, who has proposed a rezoning that could allow the development of 96 townhomes on the property. In that proposal, 130 acres would be conveyed to the Town of Leesburg as open space.
Kensington G&CC Completes $3.5M Expansion of Club Amenities
The final phase of the year-long project created a new 150-seat outdoor dining area, known as Brighton Pointe, that features island-style architecture and will extend resort-style food-and-beverage service to the adjacent pool. The club has also built two new bocce courts, adding to tennis and pickleball enhancements made in the project’s initial phase.
Yampa Valley GC Overcomes Late-Winter Damage to Restore Course
The Craig, Colo. club spent the summer aggressively aerifying its greens and also top-dressing, fertilizing, and plugging and re-seeding to overcome thatch buildup and patchiness caused by the extended winter conditions in the northwest part of the state. Golfers who “hadn’t played here for several months were pleasantly surprised, because they weren’t expecting things to…
Historic Bridge at The Battleground at Deer Park Course Reopened After Restoration
(Photo by Yvette Orozco/Houston Chronicle) Spending to restore the historic structure, the last remaining truss bridge built by the Clinton Bridge and Iron Works, was the subject of controversy, but the city of Deer Park went ahead with the project using hotel-occupancy tax funds. The bridge stands on The Battleground course, which has ties to…