We've launched the new forums! Read more here

What is the best course you ever played that has been closed?

BoilerCLE said:
Waterwood National was a great Pete Dye course in Texas. Didn't play it in very good conditions, but it was still fantastic. 14 from the tips over the cliffs was intimidating to say the least!
WNRGCmap.jpg
Click to expand...

I used to play Waterwood National back in the early 1980’s and it was a very nice course and was always in good condition. That was the first Dye course I played. Good times back then, I was shocked when I found out that it went downhill and then eventually closed. Very sad.

And you are correct, 14 from the tips was a beast but it was a great par 3


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
Last edited:
Wicked Stick in Myrtle Beach, SC
 
Another...I travel around a lot....Last few days meandered from CT to PA back to VA...Place which is where I played much as a youngster had closed a few years back Sweet Valley, PA...It was a par 30...But what was great about the place was the owner always was stocked up with great golf stuff at a time before big stores and internet...70's.
 
Sedgewood golf course towards Columbia Sc... closed. It’s now land for a strawberry farm. It had been struggling for several years.

Coopers creek towards batesburg Sc. It was about the hilliest course I played.
 
The old Craig Ranch GC in North Las Vegas readily comes to my mind.
Played alot of golf there. Really nice "old" golf course. I rolled in my first par putt there.

There was also a gun club associated with the property for a while.

At one time the course had a population of well over 20K-30K rabbits on the course. Sometimes you'd have to make them move out of your way to make your swing/stroke. This was kind of a unique problem golfers had to deal with..

Another feature was they had a very early weekend start on the back 9. We'd pay our fees, and then go get in line. No starter, or reserved tee times involved. Golfers might stand there up to an hour on a busy morning waiting their turn to tee off. There was never any bitching about slow play back then. The time of year or weather didn't matter. At the end of your back 9 play, if there was room, you could pay another half fee to play the front 9.

Unfortunately the property was sold to the city. The city decided it would cost too much to maintain the golf course, and they turned it into a regional park.
 
The old Falls course at Reflection Bay
 
Plum tree national in Harvard Illinois

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
The Ponce de Leon in St. Augustine was a classic jewel built by Flagler for the hotel in St. Augustine as he pushed the rail road into Florida in the late 1800s. It was a Donald Ross with one 9 in the marshes and the other 9 in the upland oak hammocks.Purchased by yet another carpet bagging, floor flushing "developer" who could not perform, but had already destroyed the golf course when he went bankrupt!! I have always blamed Jeb Bush who was governor at that time for not doing something to save 'The Ponce...'
 
The Experience at Keole on the Island of Lanai.
 

Attachments

  • _MG_1688.jpeg
    _MG_1688.jpeg
    23.2 KB · Views: 10
Old Silo in Mount Sterling, KY

There are a few pictures of it on the golfadvisor site linked below still. It was an awesome course and regularly ranked right behind Valhalla as the best course in KY in the late 90's and early 200's. Near the economic crisis they started running low on money, it went downhill and was opened for a few years in just crap condition. One Bearded Golfer is a blog a guy in Ky does and I linked his article talking about playing it 2 or 3 months before it closed for good.


https://onebeardedgolfer.com/2016/0...cky-public-golf-courses-the-fall-of-old-silo/

https://www.golfadvisor.com/courses/14899-old-silo-golf-club


Another great course that is heading down this path and may now in fact be closed is River Islands in Kodiak, TN. It's a phenomenal layout on the French Broad River in TN. The property has a huge island in the middle of the river and the course tracks back and forth from one bank to the island to the other bank over the 18 holes and has 2 par 3's going from a bank to the island over water. Over the last 11 years I have played it 5 or 6 times and each time I played it it was in worst shape then the last time and you could tell they just didn't have enough money to take care of it. It also kept changing ownership over the years too.

I stand corrected after their golfadvisor review, it looks like someone may actually be taking care of it now.

https://www.golfadvisor.com/courses/1531-river-islands-golf-club
 

Index of /golf

www.mentmorecountryclub.co.uk

I was a founder member when it opened in 1992, with a young looking David Feherty as a golf consultant.

It closed in 2015, three owners later.
 
Belvedere Country Club was the best course I’ve played that’s now closed solely based on the potential of that course. It was old and run down when I played it but boy you could imagine how nice it was back in the day.
 
So I have been trying to play a bunch of different places near me in the greater Norfolk/Virginia Beach area....and over the last couple months have gotten to 7 new places for me. One I played last year Signature at West Neck has closed. I played Nansemond River a few days ago and the Pro advised they were closing soon. I played Stonehouse about a month ago and that was closed for 2018 and reopened mid 2019. It was not maintained and wow it doesn't take long for the greens to turn to crap. They are trying hard there and my guess is come end of this summer the greens should be ok...Also played Royal New Kent which also closed for 2018 and reopened 3/29/19...That place was maintained during closure and on day of reopening the greens were immaculate.
 
San Luis Rey Downs in Bonsall (San Diego County), CA. It was a great track but could be frustrating in the fall, when oak leaves covered everything and lost balls even in the middle of the fairway were common. I made the mistake once of playing orange balls there in the fall. Once. Gary McCord sang its praises when he authored the book Golf for Dummies, as he played there very often in his earlier years. There was a red railroad caboose amongst the trees on the back nine, kind of an interesting sight.

Also Fallbrook GC in Fallbrook (San Diego County), CA. Not spectacular, just a nice, old, rustic course - one of the courses I learned to play golf on, and had a lot of very enjoyable rounds with good friends there over the years. The first tee was right behind the pro shop so you always had people watching, and you had to hit your tee shot from an elevated tee box, right over a semi-busy county road to the fairway on the other side. The tee shot on #13 was over a creek and through a canopy/tunnel in the oak tree limbs. Those trees bore a lot of scars from errant shots that failed to find the opening. Developers tried to buy the land and build a housing tract on it when the course closed, which was an unpopular plan amongst the local residents. One of the locals bought the property and converted it into a winery instead, to preserve the open space and prevent McMansions from overtaking the quiet, rural community.
 
GolfTravelDude said:
Another came to mind and surprised this one is the closest to home in several ways...Cahoon Plantation in Cheasapeake, VA...One night about a year ago they just locked up and told no one and put a sign on the door...Closed. The Director of Golf Dan Shea who was just awarded best 50 in US for Jr Golf was a Cub Scout in CT that I was Cub Master of...How did that slip my feeble brain....So now I scratch my head and think...I have posted like 10 courses....Sad, The game has been struggling for a while.
Click to expand...

WOW... I didn't realize Cahoon was closed. I've been out of the game again for a couple years. I remember playing Cahoon when it was three separate 9 holes when all the residential development was going on around the courses. I probably played the finished 18 hole layout about 20 times over the years and I loved the place..
 
I'm not sure if it's the best course I've played that's closed. It's likely the best course I've ever played that I am aware is closed.

Silverhorn Golf Course in Oklahoma City, OK was a fairly nice course that closed shortly after I arrived here in 2017. I heard it was plagued for a few years before its closure with bad greens and poor upkeep, but it was in great shape when I got to play it. Played it 14 times between August 14, 2017 and its closure on December 31, 2017.
 
Hombre golf club in Panama City. It wasn’t the flashiest of tracks in the Destin/PCB area but I enjoyed playing it. Closed due to the hurricane that went through a few years back.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top