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When I heard the news that Devil's Ridge Golf Club would not reopen in 2024, I felt a familiar twinge of sadness.
It is the latest in a long line of courses in Michigan I used to play that has closed in the last decade.
Devil's Ridge, which has transitioned into a hunting preserve, was built on a rolling site in Oxford, a rural section of Oakland County an hour from Detroit. It was very scenic and generally a good bargain. A couple of tricky, target-golf holes always kept its green fees lower than its nearby competition.
Unfortunately, Michigan has always had more public courses than its climate and golf population could support. But that doesn't make Devil's Ridge's disappearance any less disappointing.
One of the course's final GolfPass reviews from last fall sung its praises. "Beautiful Course (with an) 'Up North Feel'," wrote golfer Tyler8276299. "Great course and value for the money. Lots of elevation change and dramatic hole layouts. Tee times are a little close together, but golf anywhere nowadays is busy no matter where you go."
As more courses like Devil's Ridge close, the availability of public tee times will continue to tighten if golf's popularity continues to soar. That's the irony of it all. Fewer courses are closing, but when they do, it negatively impacts the local golf scene even more than it might have in the past.
I've been covering the subject of golf course closures since 2014 when GolfPass first launched as GolfAdvisor.com. With a decade in the rear-view mirror, now's a good time to take stock of what we've lost. Here are my nominations for the 10 best golf courses that have closed in the past decade:
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Elk Ridge Golf Course - Atlanta, Mich.
![Elk Ridge GC]()
Like Devil's Ridge, guns replaced golf clubs at Elk Ridge, long regarded as one of the top 20 public courses in Michigan since opening in 1992. A private hunting preserve since 2016, Elk Ridge was arguably the best work of Michigan-based architect Jerry Matthews, who laid out more courses in the state than anyone. The natural site featured marvelous holes intertwined by marshes, a stream and large ponds. It even had a bunker shaped like a pig, an homage to its former owners from The Honeybaked Ham Company.
What closed golf course do you miss the most? Let us know in the comments below.
For more coverage, check out our "Course Closures" page for an extensive list of stories.
![Mauna Kea Golf Course]()
December 16, 2020 -
Ko'olau Golf Club - Oahu, Hawaii
![Ko'olau GC]()
I lost a personal-record 8 balls when I played Ko'olau in 2013. I don't understand how anyone would enjoy an experience like that, but sadistic golfers always love a challenge. Golf Digest ranked it on their top 100 public courses list a while back to celebrate its dramatic jungle setting near the mountains. However, building and maintaining a course in one of the world's wettest climates just didn't make sense. Neither did a church owning a golf course (which was the case in its final years). The pandemic's devastating impact on Hawaii tourism's industry ultimately did in Ko'olau, which closed Sept. 30, 2020.
Welcome to the jungle at Ko'olau Golf Club on Oahu in HawaiiThe setting around the 16th green shows off how beautiful Ko'olau Golf Club once was. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPassThe finishing hole at Ko'olau Golf Club was an absolute beast of a par 4. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPassThis was the view from the back tee on the 15th hole at Ko'olau Golf Club. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPassHazards guarded the 13th green at Ko'olau Golf Club on Oahu. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPassMountains towered over the 11th green at Ko'olau Golf Club in Kaneohe, Hawaii. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPassA deep bunker once ran up the left side of the eighth green at Ko'olau Golf Club on Oahu. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPassMountains and jungle dominated the difficult sixth hole at Ko'olau Golf Club in Kaneohe, Hawaii. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPassThe Ko'olau clubhouse also serves as the home of the First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu. Courtesy of Ko'olau G.C. -
Palmer Course at La Cantera Resort - San Antonio, Texas
![La Cantera GC: Palmer's #18]()
The Palmer Course at La Cantera Resort is among the most lauded courses to ever close in the GolfPass era. Before its demise in December 2021, it ranked among the top 20 courses in Texas in Golfers' Choice ratings every year since 2014. The resort still has its Resort Course, a past host of the PGA TOUR's Texas Open.
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Stevinson Ranch Golf Club - Stevinson, Calif.
![Stevinson Ranch GC: #13]()
Owner George Kelley co-designed the unique links-style course on his family's farm with John Harbottle III in 1995. It regularly ranked among the top public golf courses in California despite its out-of-the-way locale two hours inland from the coast. Ultimately, the 2009 recession, a clubhouse fire and government-mandated water restrictions caught up to Kelley's playground. Golf Magazine chronicled its last hurrah, a 36-hole shotgun in July 2015.
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Ocean Links at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation - Amelia Island, Fla.
![Omni Amelia Island Plantation - Ocean Links]()
The abrupt November 2017 closure of Ocean Links hit hard for this reason: There's nothing like playing golf on the ocean. Although the rest of the 6,108-yard course felt too much like hemmed-in, target golf, losing five magnificent ocean holes felt like a gut-punch to the game. I once ranked the scenic Pete Dye/Bobby Weed design among the best courses in America playing less than 6,500 yards. The membership was so disappointed to lose the course that they sued for its return. A settlement turned parts of the routing into a 10-hole, 931-yard executive course called the Little Sandy Short Course by Beau Welling. That feels like an unfair trade.
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Wolf Run Golf Club - Zionsville, Ind.
![Wolf Run GC]()
Wolf Run was once a proud private club before it followed the natural death cycle to become a public course before it was sold in 2018 to be developed into a housing community. The Steve Smyers design was symbolic of golf's past sins. It opened in 1989 when harder, tougher, longer was the mantra. There's little place for that in the game anymore.
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ASU Karsten Course - Tempe, Ariz.
![ASU Karsten GC]()
For three decades, Pete and Perry Dye's ASU Karsten course served a dual role as an affordable place for locals to play in the Valley of the Sun and the home of the Arizona State's men's and women's golf teams. It succumbed to redevelopment in May 2019 as the university expanded its athletic complex, building athletic fields and new football practice facilities and the relocated ASU track stadium. Don't feel bad for Sun Devil golf teams, though. They moved to a state-of-the-art practice and meeting facility called The Thunderbirds Golf Complex at nearby municipal Papago Golf Course.
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Farmstead Golf Links - Calabash, N.C.
![Farmstead Golf Links: #17]()
Before closing in 2021, Farmstead Golf Links, designed by Willard Byrd and David Johnson in 2000, was most famous for its par-6 hole that crossed the North Carolina-South Carolina border, but it was more than just a one-hole wonder. Golfers truly loved the place, as it stood out in a crowded market along the Grand Strand. "Great course to be gone. At least I can say I played it!" wrote reviewer 'mkiwanicki' in October 2021.
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Melreese Golf Course at International Links - Miami, Fla.
![Melreese Golf Course at International Links: #3]()
The Melreese Golf Course at International Links was a municipal course treasured by the South Florida community and home to a First Tee chapter, but the high-powered influence of soccer legend David Beckham won out. The course closed in March 2023 to be developed into Miami Freedom Park, which will include a 25,000-seat soccer stadium, at least 750 hotel rooms, a 31.4-acre retail area, an office park with hundreds of thousands of square feet of space and a 58-acre public park. Green space in big cities is under threat everywhere. The biggest issue is there aren't many solid public options left in greater Miami unless you want to spend hundreds of dollars playing at Trump Doral.
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Badlands Golf Club - Summerlin, Nev.
![Badlands GC]()
Closed since 2016, the Badlands live on ... if you have an old video game console where you could play the wild Johnny Miller/Chi Chi Rodriguez collaboration on Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2000. The 27-hole facility was a Las Vegas area favorite because of its stunning target-golf adventures and bargain rates. A lawsuit that dragged on for seven years was settled this April when the Nevada Supreme Court awarded a developer a $48 million judgment (plus interest) against the city. Just think, golfers could have been enjoying the course all those wasted years as the legal process played out.
Comments (8)
I am returning to Hawaii this fall after 20+ years to play some of my old favorites like Luana Hills (now Royal Hawaiian). I was really disappointed that Ko'olau had closed for good. The course had the most dramatic scenery and I loved all the forced carries and elevation changes...
Here in Nashville, many of us mourn the loss of Wind Tree in Mt Juliet which was a great up and down layout which was very well kept for a public course...
Having lived in Miami for many years and having played Melreese with friends many times, I agree that it is truly sad that it has been closed and great portions paved over (despite what the press releases may want you to think). There certainly are other (generally more expensive but enjoyable) public and semi-private courses to play in the area like Miami Beach GC, Normandy Shores GC, Miami Shores G&CC, Crandon Golf at Key Biscayne, and Miami Springs G&CC (all of which I'd recommend) within 20 minutes or so of downtown Miami, so don't despair. That said, Melreese was a little green oasis almost in downtown (and built on the site of an old incinerator ash dump) where you could often see hawks, egrets, ducks and foxes going about their business. However, it wasn't so much the power and cachet of Beckham that doomed Melreese as it was the need for the local politicians to have some big projects going on that could throw their lobbyists supporters some "consulting" fees. The City of Miami owned Melreese, so it was something the local politicians had complete control over and could do with as the opportunity presented itself. There were other "brownfield" site available but ones which evidently did not present the same opportunities.
Plus, who knows who has an interest in the various contractors, service providers, and eventual businesses that are and will be involved with the various projects and sites? Miami is a very interesting place but don't look under the covers very closely.
I too was very disappointed that Elk Ridge closed/converted away from golf. That was my favorite course in Michigan.
How about an original Harry Colt from 1929 that was in municipal ownership charging £5 per green fee until 2021 when it forced the course to close.Allestree Park in Derby owned by the local council who thought it was created in 1948 when they acquired it. Research indicates they were wrong and it was in fact an original Colt with direct links to Muirfield,Wentworth, Effingham Edgbaston and other Top 100 golf courses. Its first club professional helped Dr Alister Mackenzie creat Cavendish in Derbyshire. this was the inspiration for Augusta National with many holes replicated in Georgia in 1932. He brought to Derby two young brothers whop are caddies and junior golfers. One went onto play Ryder Cup and become a non playing Captain. The course was directly linked to the rebirth of Japanese golf through C H Alison. It also has direct links to the origins of the Curtis Cup. Oh, and it featured the only island tee box situated in the middle of a lake anywhere in the world from 420+ global designs by Colt. A very special place. So special that Ian Woosnam offered to operate it at no cost to the local council and also offered 50,000 kids free golf membership as part of his bid to take it on. They refused to speak to him! It's an amazing story I would be happy to develop with you.
Sounds like a very short-sighted closure.
In Sherman, TX we lost four: 1)Northern Challenge, 2)Grayson County, 3)Dennison CC, and 4)Woodlawn CC.
Its a shame with the popularity of golf that we have course closures, but the cost of maintenance is brutally causing the increase in playing fees. As a result less play, affordable courses prosper others fail
Garrison Golf Course
https://highlandscurrent.org/2021/04/07/garrison-golf-course-to-close-this-year/