Adobe Creek Golf Course to close by year’s end

The final tee off for Petaluma’s Adobe Creek Golf Club is quickly approaching, as operators announced last week the course will close Jan. 1 amid declining business.

The shuttering of the 18-hole facility leaves local golfers with only one remaining public course in Petaluma, while casting a shadow of uncertainty over the future of the 100-acre east Petaluma property and for the hundreds of residents in the adjacent Adobe Creek Homeowners Association.

The course is owned by Adobe Investments, which bought the property in 2011 from local developer Bill Gallagher, according to Bill Carson, director of operations at the course. Gallagher purchased the course in 2011 after the previous owners filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and the land was placed into a court-appointed receivership.

The course has continued to face rising costs while seeing a steady decline in play despite efforts to stabilize the business, which included revamping facilities and marketing, Carson said. Though he declined to release revenue figures, he said this year, about 5,000 less rounds of golf have been played, equating to 10 percent of total revenue.

“I don’t see it improving … we don’t see a way the costs are going to stabilize and we’re not seeing revenues increase,” he said, adding that the biggest slump in business has been in the midweek afternoons, when the rates are the lowest.

With the closure date just weeks away, developer Richard Coombs, who’s at the helm of Adobe Investments and is also an agent for the neighboring Rooster Run Golf Club, said a Monday meeting was held with board members from the homeowners association, which represents the 320 residences, to find a viable solution.

“We remain open to all possibilities and we’re having a very good and frank discussion about what’s a good outcome for all parties,” said Coombs, who is also a general partner of Airport Business Center, a separate entity that’s a major developer in the county.

Though specific paths forward remain unclear, Coombs said one option that’s being considered is the creation of a nine-hole executive golf course that would be owned and maintained by the homeowners association, though he declined to comment on other options. A sale of the property has not been discussed.

Sally Hanson, the president of the association who has lived in the development for 18 years, said the meeting was “very positive.”

“I just think that it’s not the end of the world, and that we are very grateful there are options and possibilities,” Hanson said, declining to comment on the homeowners’ vision for an ideal solution.

Coombs said a plan for upkeep of the course after Jan. 1 is not yet in place.

Six of the course’s holes are located within the city of Petaluma, while 12 are in county jurisdiction, Carson said. City and county officials, who will be key in discussing the outcome, have noted a complex web of hurdles that may stand in the way of potential development of the property if that option were to be explored.

Mayor David Glass said he’s committed to working with the homeowners and the developers to find a solution that works for both parties.

“I think there’s a path and an opportunity,” he said. “I don’t want to paint it as overly optimistic, it will require that all sides listen with respect to each other and that everyone be proactive about putting something on the table that allows for something successful to work out.”

Glass, who uses the course, noted the effort the developers have put forth to restore the course’s playability to “excellent condition” and its efforts for outreach in the community.

Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt said the private land in the county’s jurisdiction is protected by an open space easement, which may limit options for development.

“There are a lot of things to talk about,” he said. “I look forward to working with the city on this one. It does straddle jurisdictional boundaries, and I’d like to find a plan that could work for everyone and make lemonade out of lemons.”

Portions of the course are also in the Petaluma Municipal Airport’s flight path and may be subject to further regulations, according to Petaluma’s Senior Planner Scott Duiven, who also pointed out a 1989 ordinance that addresses the future of the golf course through 2039.

“The bottom line is that clearly, the intent is that there be a golf course there that’s publicly accessible, and any deviation from that shy of that 50 years is subject to some kind of mutual consent from the city and the developer,” he said, adding that if any formal applications were to be submitted for development, plans would be subject to multiple layers of review and public comment.

Despite a trend that points to a countrywide decline in golf - with the National Golf Foundation noting a 20 percent decrease in rounds played in the past decade - a handful of players at the course Monday lamented its closure.

“I’m sorry to see it go,” said Greg Tellis, a 67-year-old self-proclaimed “golf junkie” from Sausalito who travels to the course at least twice a month because of its low rates and “tremendous” greens. “I spend a good part of my income out here, considering that I’m retired.”

Paul Ghiringhelli, 57, said the neighboring Rooster Run Golf Club will now be the “only game in town,” generating crowds and limiting options for golfers.

“It’s a total disappointment,” he said of the closure.

According to Carson, the shuttering of course will impact around 25 full and part-time employees, some of whom will be able to work at the courses he also manages in Windsor and Petaluma.

Ingrid Alverde, the city’s economic development manager, declined to comment on the closure and its economic impacts on the city because of a lack of familiarity with the issue.