Imagine buying your dream home near an open space, a beautiful park or in this case, the Escondido Country Club. Then you get word, the surrounding area is about to change.
Green ribbons can be spotted everywhere in the community surrounding the now closed Escondido Country Club.
After 46 years in business, the golf course on Country Club Lane officially closed Monday.
Now residents are unsure what will happen to the scenic greens and fairways.
“This hit us like a ton of bricks. We moved into a golf course community and less than a year later, we're being told it's going to change,” said resident David Desrochers.
The golf course owners say it would take $2 million in upgrades to make it competitive with surrounding courses.
They say the course is losing up to $35,000 a month.
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So now that it's closed, what's next? And how will it impact property values?
The property was purchased out of bankruptcy in 2012 by Los Angeles company Rough, LLC.
The company may use the 110 acres of land for residential development, which has local residents worried they will lose their fairway view.
“Our concern is that any development whatsoever causes noise, dust, traffic, crime, vandalism,” said resident Jerry Swadley.
But as homeowners put up green ribbons and signs like “save the ducks,” the golf course has said residents will have input on what to do with the land.
“Those could include parkland, open space, trails, and we want them to tell us what they want to see there," said Erica Holloway with Escondido Country Club.
Residents are skeptical.
“Open space would be great. That would be ideal if the golf course went away, but that doesn't make anybody money It doesn't make the city money. It doesn't make the developers money. I don't see that happening," Desrochers said.
The president of the local homeowners’ organization says he will soon start to collect signatures in an effort to give this area a green space designation.
"We're looking at ways to make sure they don't completely destroy the landscape behind our homes," Swadley said.
Some of the residents believe the golf course owners didn't give it their best when it came to marketing the course.
The course spokesperson said they have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in upgrades over the past few years but the golf course just has not been profitable, and so changes have to be made.
