The Green Valley, Ariz., facility has been closed since July 2013 due to a lack of maintenance that drove golfers away, and the current owners are waiting until 2017 to decide if the property is worth reopening. Disappointing sales at the club’s sister course, San Ignacio Golf Club, are playing into the decision.

Canoa Hills Golf Club in Green Valley, Ariz., has been closed nearly three years now, and disappointing sales at sister course San Ignacio Golf Club means it’ll be at least another before the owners decide whether to attempt a reopening, the Green Valley News & Sun reported.

The course, closed since July 2013 after a lack of maintenance by the previous owner drove golfers away, was bought in 2014 along with San Ignacio by construction magnate Morgan North, who operates the courses under a subsidiary, Borderland Golf Management, the News & Sun reported.

Ronnie Black, director of golf at San Ignacio, said North and Borderland decided to push their decision about reopening Canoa Hills until 2017, following a lackluster peak season at San Ignacio this past winter and spring due to that course’s condition, the News & Sun reported.

“This past summer we killed our greens, replanted them and they did not come all the way back for the winter,” Black said. “We did not have time to get them up and going. The weather was kind of funny and our greens weren’t up to our standards, and our play suffered a lot because of that.”

Whether the time will be right to look at opening the shuttered Canoa will depend largely on the success of San Ignacio, which reopened in January 2015, the News & Sun reported.

“I believe that if we get good support from the golfing community this winter then by this time next year we’ll be working on (Canoa Hills),” Black said. “We’ll have to see what the prognosis is after the season goes through this year. I assume we’ll make the decision in March, April or May or next year.”

Black couldn’t say what the numbers at San Ignacio would have to be going forward to reopen Canoa Hills, saying that is an accounting question. “And again, I don’t know the numbers and I don’t think necessarily they know the numbers,” he said.

According to Black, North has spent money trimming trees and vegetation on the Canoa Hills course, and its cart paths have been cleaned as well. North doesn’t have any other plans for the property than to keep it a golf course, he said.

“Right now it’s not worth anything to Morgan. Everything’s going out, there’s nothing coming in,” Black said. “So Morgan wants to make it a positive cash flow situation. It benefits everyone to keep it a golf course. It just has to be proven to be fiscally responsible.”

Others, such as Mike Schultz, vice president of Canoa Estates HOA, one of several that backs up to the defunct course, aren’t confident in the course’s future, the News & Sun reported.

“It’s been that way for so long that we’re kind of used to it,” Schultz said. “And we’d like to see something done, but we’re not holding our breath.”

Schultz and other HOA board members heard rumors of a September 2016 opening date for Canoa Hills, though they didn’t expect it to happen, the News & Sun reported.

“We were always hanging our hat on the fact that (Canoa Hills) wouldn’t open until San Ignacio turned a profit,” he said. “Golf is on the down swing, and people are not as willing to go out and spend $50 or $60 on a round of golf when they can play tennis or pickleball for a lot less money.”

Green Valley Water District Board President Bob Hedden said there is a contract in place with Borderland, where they’d have to give the district nine months’ notice before starting water service to the course. He added that he has not received such notice and has some doubts as to whether the community can support another golf course, the News & Sun reported.

“Green Valley isn’t growing; it’s stagnant in terms of growth,” Hedden said. “And if that’s going to be the case for some time then they’re going to be hard-pressed to put in another course.”

For now, unless money comes in from San Ignacio, there seems little can be done with the course, according to Stan Riddle, past president of the Green Valley Council, the News & Sun reported.

“All (the residents) can do is rant and rave, and I think they’ve done that,” Riddle said. “And I think Black and company have tried to placate them, saying it’s pure economics, and if they can’t make money they can’t do anything.”

Riddle, a former shopping center developer, is skeptical that the property could be redeveloped into a residential or commercial property, given the lack of roads and infrastructure on the property. Most of the property also lies in a natural floodplain, making development even more of a challenge, the News & Sun reported.”

“It’s a can of worms,” Riddle said. “I know for a fact that Green Valley Recreation doesn’t want anything to do with it. There might be some areas where they could develop it for residential or commercial purposes, but the rest simply isn’t developable.”