Woodlake CC in Lakewood, N.J. has closed its doors as its owner takes time to determine “the next best direction for the property.” Arsenal Island GC in Rock Island, Ill. plans to close September 30 as a search for a new operator is conducted. The owner of Gray Eagle GC in Fishers, Ind., has announced plans to close in 2019, and the owners of the community that includes Genoa Lakes GC in Nevada are polling residents about options that could include closing all or part of the golf course.
Several announcements of immediate or planned club closings were reported at the end of August and beginning of September:
- RN Thompson, owner of Gray Eagle Golf Coursein Fishers, Ind., plans to shutter the 18-hole course, driving range, putting greens and simulators in 2019—and that’s giving some homeowners along the course a mild case of the yips, reported the Indianapolis Star.
Thompson and the homeowners said the chances of selling the course to someone who will keep it a golf range are slim, reported the Star. The residents rejected an offer to raise their homeowner fees to buy it themselves, and the city doesn’t want to make it a municipal golf course
“I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Thompson said. “For someone to sink $4, 5, 6, 7 million and keep it a golf course, it is not going to work. It doesn’t have value.”
Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness said that ideally, the land would remain a golf course under new ownership, but that the city would let the free market determine its future, the Star reported.
“Golf is the only permitted use right now under our zoning code,” Fadness said. “Any other use would need council approval. We have no interest in developing the land.”
Much of Gray Eagle GC cannot be developed because it lies in the Mud Creek flood plain, which would limit the breadth of any commercial or housing development, said Richard Block, a City Council member who owns a real estate firm, the Star reported.
“A lot of people want to see it stay as a golf course, but if it is developed, a good amount of natural area or trail would have to be woven in,” Block said.
But what should be done with the property has been a hot topic for months, reported the Star.
The Star reported that at a May homeowners association meeting, Andy Card, who has developed an 88,000-sq. ft. sports complex in the area, told residents he could build another sports complex at the corner where the Gray Eagle golf clubhouse currently is. The facility would have tennis, basketball and pickleball courts and a restaurant.
Other possibilities include developing some of the land for housing and using the rest as a nature area. The city said it would favor senior housing there, reported the Star.
- The Arsenal Island Golf Course in Rock Island, Ill. plans to cease operation on September 30 as officials search for a contractor to operate the course, the clubhouse and some other Arsenal facilities under an enhanced-use lease, reported The Quad-City Times.
The fate of the property, which was opened in 1897 by Col. Stanhope Blunt, then the commander of the arsenal, has been in question due to its lack of use in recent years, the Times reported.
It is the oldest course in the Quad Cities area and was opened to the public in 2010, and in 2015, nearly 19,000 rounds were played there, the Times reported.
But after tighter security restrictions were enacted for the course, which sits on an island in the Mississippi River that is primarily a military installation, fewer than 13,000 rounds were played in 2016, and play has continued to decline since then.
“We don’t know when it will resume operations or who will operate the course until the [enhanced-use lease] process is complete,” said Eric Cramer, Garrison Public Affairs Officer at the Rock Island Arsenal, in announcing the closing.
The Army Installation Management Command’s realty governance board gave its approval for the course to be leased on July 3rd, the Times reported,
- Woodlake Country Club in Lakewood, N.J. has closed its doors, reported the Asbury Park Press. The closure, according to a statement from owner Matrix Development Group, is temporary, but whether the 150-acre space off New Hampshire Avenue will reopen for golf is uncertain.
“Matrix continues to own Woodlake Country Club,” the statement from a Matrix spokesperson said, the Press reported. “The demand for golf at the club has declined in recent years, and Matrix made the financial decision to temporarily close the club while the company determines the next best direction for the property.”
Matrix Golf & Hospitality, a division of Matrix Development Group, owns the golf course through a company called Woodlake Golf LLC. Matrix, which is based in Monroe Township, develops residential, commercial and industrial properties, and operates a few golf courses, mostly in New Jersey, the Press reported.
- The owners of the Genoa Lakes golf course community in Genoa, Nev. are polling residents on alternatives that could include closing the Genoa Lakes Golf Club by October 25, 2018, The Record-Courier of Reno, Nev. reported.
In an August 11th letter, course owners Genoa Golf Group suggested several courses of action for the club to members of the homeowners’ association, ranging from closing it to selling it to residents, The Record-Courier reported.
Genoa Lakes Golf Group Partner Fred Gartrell said the survey was developed by his partners to take the community’s temperature, reported The Record-Courier.
“I’m optimistic that majority of the community is interested in seeing this course remain open and going into the future,” Gartrell said. “We really don’t have an interest in closing it down. We think of it as an anchor for the Valley.”
Only 18 percent of the community’s residents are members of the club, Gartrell added
According to the letter to residents, the owners are seeking $6 million from either a private buyer or the homeowners, reported The Record-Courier.
Rezoning and building single-family homes on the back nine holes, which would have a separate entrance, is another option proposed by the group, with the homeowners association taking over the front nine of the golf course, reported The Record-Courier.
Another option was to require all homeowners to become social members of the golf club at $125 per month. That option includes developing additional activities to enhance the membership, according to the letter, reported The Record-Courier.
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