New Owners Take Over Courses in Arizona and Alabama

The Bellair Golf Course in Glendale, Ariz. and DeSoto Golf Course in Fort Payne, Ala. have new owners with plans for improvements. There will be a new indoor/outdoor dining experience at Bellair GC, as well as updates to the driving range, new outdoor gazebos and sitting areas near the ponds. DeSoto GC will be leased from the city for three years, with an option to be bought outright after that.

After sitting in bankruptcy for nearly a year, the Bellair Golf Course in Glendale, Ariz. is under new ownership after the COVID-19 pandemic, and a new group of owners have big plans to restore the 75 acres, ABC15 reported.

Bellair has become an eyesore to those who live there over the past year, ABC15 reported. The course has dead grass, dead trees, lost golf balls, broken furniture and golf shop that sits empty with dust and cobwebs.

Jason Law and Ryan Beglin are just two of the new owners who are hoping to turn the area around by providing a safe, fun, outdoor environment for more than those who love golf, ABC15 reported.

“It’s really about creating an atmosphere out here where you feel safe, comfortable, kind of extension of someone’s backyard where you want to be here, you want to hang out,” said Beglin.

The new owners, a group of friends and investors who live nearby, and have family and friends who live in the community have big plans to restore the area, ABC15 reported. Along with planting thousands of trees, there will be a new indoor/outdoor dining experience, updates to the driving range, new outdoor gazebos and sitting areas near the ponds.

The new group will also use recycled water to bring back green grass to the course. The owners tell ABC15 they use recycled water from their own well system that pumps water from the ground and into the lakes and then it’s recycled to the course.

DeSoto Golf Course in Fort Payne, Ala. is set to reopen under the ownership of Darrel Shankles, WAFF reported.

In January, the council announced the closure of the DeSoto Golf Course after facing financial challenges, WAFF reported. Now, Shankles will be the new owner and will lease the golf course for three years. After those three years are up, he will have the option to purchase for $225,000.

Not only will the course be used for golf, but it will also be a place for public meetings, a restaurant and corporate events, WAFF reported.

“Owning the golf course got me back into having an affordable place to play and I want to give everyone an opportunity to have an affordable place to play,” Shankles said. “Also, give the things that golf does, it builds integrity, it builds character and sometimes self-control.”