The Loop

What happens to golf courses when they close?

June 30, 2013

__By [Mike Stachura

](http://www.golfdigest.com/contributors/mike-stachura)__

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Dust in the wind: A lot of closed courses remain in limbo.

More than 1,400 golf courses have shut since 2001, and according to a National Golf Foundation study of 60 closed courses, 70 percent have yet to be repurposed. Of those, "about half were in planning or awaiting approval for reuse, and half remained in limbo (up for sale, being litigated, being actively opposed by citizens groups, or fallow)," the NGF reports. "About one in three fallow properties were being maintained to some degree, and about one in four were in formal litigation or being protested by residents." Of the golf-course land that has been repurposed, uses have ranged from reclaimed wetlands to dog parks, skate parks and even a wedding pavilion. One Florida course is in the planning stages to be -- we're not making this up -- a cemetery.