Fore-ward thinking

In recent years, many Birmingham golf courses have seen changes — be it from closings, additions or renovations — and the courses along the 280 corridor have not been immune. 

Since 2015, Altadena Valley Country Club and Eagle Point Country Club have both closed their course. Both areas have also seen new developments come to the land.

“In general, I think you can state the reason they’re closing is because of financial issues,” said Shelby County Chief Development Officer Chad Scroggins.

Connor Farmer, with Highpointe Properties, said Highpointe purchased the Eagle Point property because of the location and demand for housing in the area. He added that there aren’t as many golfers in the game nowadays, too.

“Since the recession, not as many people are playing golf,” he said. “Therefore, green fees have gone down, and the number of rounds is not enough to maintain the course and make a profit in some cases.”

When Eagle Point officially closed, Scroggins said it was still open to public play for surrounding areas. But once it closed its doors, the golf course and country club were turned into residential lots — something the owners had been prepared to do.

“It’s a unique situation,” Scroggins said, “where he actually zoned the golf course area for residential, being apartments and homes, and then had a golf course on top of it before any of the other homes were [there].”

The property was later rezoned from multi-family housing to have just single-family homes. During a planning commission meeting regarding the rezoning, several Eagle Point residents spoke in favor of removing the potential for apartments in the middle of their subdivision.

Scroggins said developers were able to have the property zoned for housing but developed as a golf course due to flexibility with open recreation space uses. 

He added “nobody’s ever been upset about having a really nice golf course in their backyard,” although some homeowners may not like looking at a new neighborhood in an area that was formerly lush greens and trees. 

According to Bob House, city planning consultant with the city of Hoover, Greystone Golf and Country Club is zoned similarly as single-family residential property. The golf course is permitted under conditional use for the property.

In regard to possible concerns from surrounding residents, Scroggins said different zoning is something potential home buyers in the area can look for on zoning maps from the county. Those maps will give details on what is already approved for development on the land, such as commercial properties or multi-family housing.

While the property’s zoning allowed Eagle Point an out from the golfing world once the market saw a dip, Heatherwood Hills Country Club stuck to its recreational roots and came back from its closing in 2009. The club reopened seven years later, in late-2016. 

“Eagle Point, Chase Lake, Altadena … all of those closed because the price of the property could sell for an astronomical amount,” said Mike Wesler, a long-time resident of Heatherwood Hills. 

He said after the neighborhood heard Heatherwood was closing, the surrounding community rallied to show its desire to have the land remain a golf course.

“The sentiment throughout the neighborhood was that they absolutely wanted it to remain a golf course and a country club,” Wesler said. “It was a united effort across the neighborhood [to support the golf course and country club].”

After bringing in Cypress Golf Management, the country club and course were reopened in the fall of 2016. Tim McCoil, pro shop manager for Heatherwood, said the company has been a huge help in reopening the course.

Despite declining trends in golf, McCoil said many are picking up the sport again as a way to get outside and socialize with friends or family.

“It took a hit for a little while as an industry, but it’s coming back,” he said. “You’re going to start seeing younger and younger people [playing].” 

He and Wesler agreed too that recent growth in the nearby area has helped Heatherwood Hills have a positive reopening. 

“We have probably 15 different communities within a two mile radius of the front door,” Wesler said. 

“Easily,” McCoil added.

And as more families are moving to the area, McCoil said Heatherwood is working on making the country club more community friendly by trying to include a club pool and remaining open for public use.

“It’s not just golf,” McCoil said, adding the club offers amenities to both members and the public. “It’s good for everything, not just golfing.”