On December 2, the city’s only golf course will close after 54 years in business. In a statement, officials said that revenues at the golf course are down 12 percent from the same time last year and that it has not paid the required lease payments to its landlord, Claremont University Consortium, for more than 12 months, creating a liability greater than the golf course’s total current assets.
Claremont (Calif.) Golf Course, the city’s only golf course, is scheduled to close December 2, the Ontario (Calif.) Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reported.
A statement from the Claremont Golf Course Inc. (CGC) on Monday indicated that revenues are down 12 percent from the same time last year, and CGC Inc. has not paid the required lease payments to its landlord, Claremont University Consortium (CUC) for more than 12 months. Those payments and the continuing daily financial losses have created a liability greater than CGC Inc.’s total current assets, the Bulletin reported.
In September, the Board issued a release saying the course would likely shut down in January but wanted people to “continue to support” the golf course through December, the Bulletin reported.
According to a Claremont Women’s Golf Club flier, the club opened in 1959. The Claremont Colleges took over the golf course from investors on January 1, 1990, and formed a tax-paying entity, CGC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Claremont Colleges, the Bulletin reported.
“I had hoped to keep the golf course running until January, however, and sadly, our cash reserves are being depleted faster than I anticipated, and are now critical,” said Dennis Bishop, President and CEO of CGC, in a comment on Facebook.
CGC is an independent, private, for-profit company and leases the property from CUC to operate their golf course company under the terms of a lease agreement between CGC Inc. and CUC, Secretary Tim Morrison said.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Soon Lee, 59, of the closure. “I’d miss it a lot. We need it.”
Bruce Thompson, head instructor, who has taught 40,000 to 50,000 students at the facility including current professional Sydnee Michaels, said he thought a rough economy and high water fees contributed to the course’s demise, the Bulletin reported.
Non-profit group Claremont Heritage Inc. is interested in what happens to the course, the Bulle itin reported.
“From a cultural standpoint, our goal is to document and preserve the cultural aspects as well,” said Claremont Heritage Executive Director David Shearer. “So we definitely take an interest in it. One of the things we’d want to do is get in there and survey the archeological site and just make sure whatever future use wouldn’t be interrupting or conflicting (with) that. We really don’t know the state of it.”
Morrison said in an earlier interview that “the CUC owns the land and there are no plans for the use of the property. The CUC Board is responsible for CUC land use; no specific board discussion of the land currently occupied by the golf course is anticipated.”
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