About 200 residents joined together to redesign and reopen the Cramerton, N.C., club after it fell into foreclosure in 2012. The restaurant, Cotton Bar and Grill, will likely open in February, while the golf course is set to open in May.

The city can “no longer subsidize golf,” says its Council President, and a request for proposals seeking applications from the private sector to take over management of at least two of its four publicly owned courses is likely to appear on the council’s next agenda. Rounds have decreased 27 percent since 2005, even with “performance plans” implemented at the start of the current decade.