Another historic golf course is about to bite the dust.
Designed by Devereux Emmet and Alfred Tull, Cape Cod Country Club in Massachusetts is three years shy of its 100th year serving golfers in New England. It will not make it to its centennial.
Representatives at a Falmouth town meeting on Nov. 17 voted to approve a plan that will transform almost one-third of the property's 137 acres into a solar energy farm, according to Boston.com.
The Cape Cod Commission voted in September to approve plans to include the golf course in the plans for the town's solar farm project. The measure then went before representatives Nov. 17 for approval.
(I)t was a favorite of all who played it and will be sorely missed.
"I believe that a sustainable energy project where the town would own the land, have no noise, have no traffic, need no town services, and have a portion of the donated land preserved as conservation seemed like a win for everyone," wrote CCCC owner David Friel in a letter about the project and the future of the property he says he has tried to sell for the past decade.
Long before the November vote that green lights the plan to repurpose the nearly century-old course, Friel Golf Management already had reached a deal to sell the property to PureSky Energy, according to CapeNews.net. Under the terms of the plan PureSky has agreed to donate the land — comprising 137 acres — to the town and lease back 82 acres to erect more than 45,000 solar panels. The remaining land — about 55 acres — is earmarked for green space, including 42 acres of permanently conserved open space, 1.1 acres of wetlands and a 12-acre pond, according to the plan.
Friel Golf Management had cited financial hardship fueled by declining popularity of the game as the trigger for selling the property.
More than 2,100 golf courses (in 18-hole equivalents) have closed in the past 20 years, however, that trend has slowed since the Covid pandemic sent golfers old and new to the course in record numbers.
Despite Friel's claims, According to the annual State of the Golf Industry report delivered by Pellucid Corp. and Edgehill Golf Advisors during the PGA Merchandise Show, there were 23.4 million golfers in the market last year as reported by TurfNet. Those figures include 4.3 million players who left the game, a number that was offset by a gain of 4.9 million new players, for a net gain of 600,000 new golfers, 400,000 of whom are women. Those 23.4 million golfers played a record-high 532 million rounds in 2024, according to the report.
"It was a motivated seller and a town that loves conservation, green energy and hates golf," said former CCCC superintendent Matthew Crowther, CGCS. "A real shame because it is a great piece of property and a tremendous golf course."
The club has had several names since it opened in 1928, but the integrity of the course has remained relatively unchanged. For example, the course still utilizes a pump station that was built in the 1940s by German prisoners of war who were confined during World War II at nearby Otis Air National Guard Base on Joint Base Cape Cod (known then as Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Otis).
"Designed by Devereux Emmet and Alfred Tull it is a perfect example of a classic era golf course," Crowther said. "The terrain is rolling hills with elevated tees and greens with blind shots and expansive corridors. The green complexes are the defense and truly amazing. It has never had extensive budgets or the renovations that alter the original design. I believe only one green has been rebuilt."
Measures that went before the town on Nov. 17 were:
- Article 12, that allows the town to accept the donated land and authorize a lease for solar development.
- Article 13, that grants the Select Board the authority to petition the state legislature to accept the land as a gift and lease it back for solar development.
- Article 14, a petition counter-measure that would have nixed the plan.
Articles 12 and 13 passed, while the anti-solar Article 14 measure was defeated. A petition in support of Article 14 on Change.org to keep the property as a golf course has received more than 3,800 signatures.
The course still utilizes a pump station that was built in the 1940s by German prisoners of war who were confined during World War II at what then was known then as Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Otis.
PureSky Energy says the project will provide enough energy to power 7 percent of the electricity needs in Barnstable County, located on the southwestern tip of Cape Cod.
According to Energy Sage, a clearinghouse for information on green energy, solar projects have an average lifespan of 25-30 years. PureSky says after the project's operational lifespan, the panels will be removed and the land will be returned to conservation use.
The project will next go before the Falmouth Planning Board for site plan review on Nov. 25, and, according to PureSky, is expected to be fully operational by mid-2027.
"It has always been a public resort course with accommodations, polo fields and water sports in its hey day," Crowther said. "Although it has been just a golf course for decades it was a favorite of all who played it and will be sorely missed."
