TEMPE, Ariz. — A neighborhood golf course is closing next year and is slated to be redeveloped into housing, but residents are frustrated at the prospect of losing the course and adding density to their area.
Shalimar Golf Club, a nine-hole course that first opened in 1961, is under contract to be sold to BB Living, a Scottsdale-based rental home developer.
Branden Lombardi, president of BB Living, said the course had been for sale for years, with the hopes that another golf operator would purchase it. But when no one did, the course’s owners, Jane and Dick Neuheisel, who bought the course in 1984, approached his company to buy and redevelop it. The Neuheisel’s son, Rick, played at nearby McClintock High School and later led the UCLA Bruins to the 1984 Rose Bowl title.
“If no one else is ready to step in and operate it as a golf course, there is a reason for that,” Lombardi said.
The course has a restriction on it requiring it to operate as a golf course that expires in January 2025. After that, Lombardi said the owners plan to operate it through the remainder of golfing season and close it before summer.