Bound To Happen Files: First Coachella Valley Course Closes

Thanks to all the readers who sent in Larry Bohannan's story about the plight of Palm Desert's Santa Rosa Golf Club.

While Palm Springs enjoys a resurgence and even a youthful reinvention of the Rat Pack era hotels, many in golf wonder about the future of the Coachella Valley going forward. And now it's losing its first course in part because of dwindling member support, but mostly because of location and banks.

Economics is at the heart of the issue, said Altofer, an investment advisor who moved to the desert from Connecticut 10 years ago.

"As the membership was diminishing, cash flow was diminishing," he said.

The club was paying off a 15-year, $700,000 bank note, but the bank had the right to call in the note at various times. That's just what the bank did, even though Altofer said the club was paying the loan like clockwork.

"They were getting a good rate on it, particularly in this environment," Altofer said. "And they said we are not lending to golf anymore. We are not going to renew it. They were very firm on that."

The course also faced repayment of what Altofer described as a $400,000 member loan. In the end, club members knew they weren't going to be able to come up with the cash as membership continued to drop. The decision was made to sell the property two years ago. The natural buyer was RJT Development, which owns 17 undeveloped acres adjoining the Santa Rosa property. Combined, the property will feature about 96 acres for residential development in a prime Palm Desert location.