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How would you feel if your local golf course was dismantled so the owners could make a lot of money?
Cape Cod Country Club’s historic and virtually untouched Golden Age Devereux Emmet design is facing this exact outcome. Friel Golf Management, owner and operator of several golf facilities in the New England region, has put CCCC on the chopping block. In 2021, David Friel wrote, “The expansion of golf courses on the Cape over the past decade or two and the reduction in the number of golfers across the country have forced me, from a financial viability perspective, to consider other land use options for the Cape Cod Country Club.” At the same time, the Friel family entered into an agreement with Amp Energy to convert the property into the largest solar array in Massachusetts, rather than seek a new ownership group to manage the course and continue its history and role as a local golf hub.
Data from the National Golf Foundation shows that more than 4.4 million more Americans are playing golf today than in 2020. This isn’t about a failing market or the financial viability of a public golf course, it’s about dumping community assets to make a profit. Additionally, another Friel golf course, Green Meadow Golf Club in New Hampshire, was sold to Target for more than $120 million in 2023 to create a distribution center in place of the 36-hole golf facility.
It is very rare for a virtually pristine Golden Age golf course of this quality to exist in modern times. This affordable public golf course is rightly loved by the local community. I visited the course last summer and was captivated by its old-world charm and fascinating history dating back to the early 20th century. Renewable energy is a great initiative for the well-being of our planet, but can’t it be implemented somewhere where it doesn’t replace a beloved community resource? I hope that the bleak future of this golf course can take a positive turn.
Please consider signing this petition to help save Cape Cod Country Club, and check out Baystate Gulf for more information about the dire situation.
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