The Kalamazoo, Mich., property will close permanently at the end of the season and be converted for private use by the Daniel Scheffers family. The 194-acre property opened in 1981 by businessmen who were later linked to a multimillion-dollar marijuana trafficking network, which resulted in the U.S. Department of Justice seizing the course in 1986.

Thornapple Creek Golf Club in Kalamazoo, Mich., will close permanently at the end of this golf season, but plans to be a full-service operation for golfers and special events until then, Michigan Live reported.

The 194-acre property will be closed on November 5 and converted for private use by members of the Daniel Scheffers family. Scheffers, who is president and owner of VanDam & Kruisinga Building and Restoration, has purchased the golf course property for an undisclosed sum, Live reported.

The golf course, which was opened in 1981, has catered to golf leagues, outings, groups and open play. It also has a log cabin clubhouse and facilities that have provided a backdrop for numerous business functions, weddings, receptions, showers, proms, reunions and other gatherings, Live reported.

John Brussee, who has owned the 18-hole course since 1998, said he had not been aggressively looking to sell the course, “But I had an offer and I took it. It’s a great piece of property,” he said. ‘It is a great course. But people don’t play golf as much as they used to.”

While golf remains popular and he has always loved being involved in golfing, Brussee said fewer people are playing and that makes operating a golf course a tough business. “If I saw that the kids, the youngsters, and people 35 and younger were gravitating toward golf, there is no way I’d sell it,” he said.

In the meantime, he said competitive forces have caused fees to hover at the same levels they were many years ago, although costs have risen, Live reported.

“In 1999 when we bought it, we charged $48 for 18 holes,” Brussee said. “Today we charge $48 for 18 holes.”

Brussee bought the property with his brother Tom, who was his partner in the endeavor until about 10 years ago. The club has about 65 members who paid an annual membership fee of $1,100 this year. Brussee said that at one time, it was $1,500, Live reported.

“In Michigan you need another month on either side (of the golf season) for sales,” he said. “It’s just a really tough business to have. And we have a really good one.”

Thornapple Creek is a lush course with a wooded and rolling landscape. Money was not spared when the course was built by businessmen who were later linked to a multimillion-dollar drug trafficking network. The network brought marijuana into Southwest Michigan during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Live reported.

Two of the three original owners were convicted of drug offenses in November of 1985, and a third co-owner became a fugitive of the law. The U.S. Department of Justice seized the course in January 1986 and a year later sold it at auction, Live reported.

Operating under the 1984 Comprehensive Crime Control Act, the government confiscated the course on the grounds that it was purchased with profits from racketeering and drug sales. At the time, the course was appraised at $1 million to $1.5 million. Brussee and his brother, who were the fourth owners of the course, heard stories about the origins of the course, including a bit of underworld folklore, Live reported.

“You look under a rock on hole No. 6 and there was supposed to be a whole lot of money,” Brussee said with a laugh, assuring that he has not found the money.

Brussee noted that the course “wasn’t losing a lot of money,” and it didn’t have any debt, but maintenance is expensive. “There’s a huge investment,” he said.

Business was very good when the brothers bought the course, Brussee said, but that was the best year they ever had. “You look at the financials and they were good,” he said. “They were solid in 1999. Ever since that time, it has gone down a point or two each season.”

Longtime golfer Terry Gay, 46, of Kalamazoo, described the closing as “unfortunate,” Live reported.

“It’s a beautiful course,” he said. “Our league is on Monday nights and we’ve had to scramble to find a different course. And with the amount of guys we have and the places people work, we’re not going to have our same league. Some are going one way. Some are going another way. A lot of our league has been playing here over 20 years. Once it’s done, they’re going to have to find somewhere else.”

Along with a few golf outings and parties, Brussee said, 10 to 12 weddings are booked at Thornapple Creek before it closes in November. No other events will be booked. Staff at the course “are running it top-notch until the end,” Brussee said. “It’s ready to rock, all the way until November 5.”