Legacy golf course in Henderson is now closed. The Review Journal headline was “future unknown”. Well, the entity that purchased it, immediately closed it. Not good for the homeowners and even renters in the area. Just look at the names of some of the residential streets surrounding this course, Troon, Augusta, Spyglass and Inveraray. Look even at the apartment names, The “Invitational Apartments” and “Fairways on the Green. This golf course is surrounded by developments with many homes and apartments directly impacted by its closing.
It does not take a genius to figure out that it is highly unlikely that this course will ever open again and will likely be developed. It looks like it will go the way of other closed courses, Badlands, Silverstone Ranch and Stallion Mt. The Siena course is also in some jeopardy, per the owner, who is threatening to close and develop it himself or sell it to developers.
What has happened? First these courses were never built, strictly speaking, to respond to demand for new courses in the area, but were built to make more desirable the homes that were built around them. Second, golf has become less popular, with a 20% decrease in play, nationwide, since 2005.
I can think to only a few courses in the area that are owned, controlled, by the homeowners in their respective areas. They would be Sun City Summerlin, Sun City MacDonald Ranch and Los Prados.
The golf courses that have closed, or threatened closing, are private, for profit situations. No equity membership course has yet closed, however the Las Vegas Country Club has looked at closing in the past. As per above, no course owned by the homeowner’s has threatened to close. One of my past clients in Sun City Summerlin put it this way. “Even if the golf courses run in the red, we will support them as just another community cost, such as the cost of maintaining the community centers”.
Purchasing a home on a golf course in this area is becoming increasingly risky. There are however, in my opinion, levels of risk. If the home you are considering sets well above the course that is a good thing. If you own an undivided interest in the course, like for example in Sun City Summerlin, that is probably the best situation. Equity membership situations, where the course is owned by the golfers that play it, is probably safer than individually owned, for profit, courses.
Also of note is that the Rhodes Ranch and the Southshore at Lake Las Vegas courses, as I understand it, are up for sale.
