BRENTWOOD – The new year has signaled the end for Diablo Golf Course, a longtime nine-hole course bordering Summerset I, a popular retirement community here.
The city announced the pending closure on social media, and residents came out to a recent council meeting to ask about what would become of the site. The nine-hole course, which closed on Sunday, was part of the larger Brentwood Golf Club. That 18-hole course will remain open at 100 Summerset Drive.
City Manager Tim Ogden reassured residents and council members that a town hall meeting with the owner would be scheduled soon to answer questions.
“We are equally concerned with the announced closure of the Diablo Golf Course, and the city has a vested interest in the residents’ quality of life and satisfaction in the neighborhoods,” Ogden said.
Property owner Rex Choe, who did not attend the Dec. 13 council meeting, later said high maintenance costs, as well as a decline in customers, are the main reasons he decided to close the 25-year-old nine-hole course.
“For three years I’ve been studying whether we should stay open or not, but even though I lose money, I tried to stay,” he said, noting he spent more than $350,000 annually on maintenance.
The course’s closure comes a year after another nearby club, Shadow Lakes, reopened as a nine-hole golf course several years after high operating expenses and low revenues forced it to close its 18-hole operation. Other nearby courses that have closed in recent years include Deer Ridge, Roddy Ranch, Delta View and Bethel Island.
Summerset I resident and golfer Judy Rineheimer, who spoke to the council during public comments, had questions about the future of the golf course and access to its pathway after the closure.
“There are concerns about living in a gated community and what the definition of open space will be for that space,” she said. “What happens to that space as private land if it is formally closed? And so my concern will be, will the public be allowed to use the golf course cart path (behind the homes)?”
Resident Karen Anderson, meanwhile, wanted to know how the recently approved Brentwood Measure Q, a voter-protected open space measure, would affect any potential zoning changes. The measure requires voter approval – with some exceptions – for more intensive uses of open space and recreational lands.
Ogden later said that the golf course has long been zoned to include homes.
“In this particular part of the golf course where the Diablo course is proposed to close, single-family residential homes are allowed to be built, but that doesn’t mean that it is intended, or feasible,” he said.
Ogden added that apartments are not allowed and anything different from current zoning would need the approval of voters.
“There are so many nuances to all the various and contradictory state laws that may apply, and the feasibility of anything different than a golf course will need to be closely reviewed if any applications are submitted, which again, we have no understanding is even being considered,” he added.
When asked later what he would do with the now-closed course, Choe said it was too early to decide but he had no immediate plans.
“I have to stop bleeding first and see how that goes,” he said.
Another Summerset resident questioned whether the property’s grass and ponds would be maintained after the closure.
“What about dead trees?” she asked. “Will he cut them down and what happens if he doesn’t do that?”
Ogden later said the city would ask the property owner to remove any dead trees that can be seen from the public right of way. Any weeds also would have to be mowed within 30 feet from a residential property line, he said.
“The property owner has assured us he intends to maintain the weed abatement, and enforce our municipal codes that apply,” he said.
Reached after the meeting, the Diablo Golf Course owner promised he would maintain the property to city code but not as a golf course as he does not plan to pay for water to maintain the landscaping.
Choe reflected that since residents wanted to have homes backing onto a golf course, developers in the past would build a golf course and sell homes around it, but having a lot of holes isn’t always good for the golf course business.
“That was their trend (to build homes on golf courses) 20 years ago,” said Choe, who bought the Brentwood Golf Club and Diablo Golf Course property almost three years ago.
Choe also noted that the Diablo course had suffered from years of neglect from previous owners who put more effort into the 18-hole course. Now he will focus all his efforts into making that course the best it can be.
“The design is really nice,” he said of the Brentwood Golf Club, which world-renowned golf course architect Ted Robinson designed.
“It’s hard to find this layout, this kind of golf course layout; there’s nothing to compare it to any other golf course around this area,” he said.
Choe, a Brentwood resident, added he will focus on improving customer service and increasing the 18-hole course’s ratings.
“I wouldn’t want to close it and I wouldn’t want to sell it,” he said. “This is one of the best golf courses in this county.”
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