Yet another victim of the down economy, La Purisima Golf Course, an award-winning 18-hole championship course in Lompoc, is officially on the market with price tag of $6.25 million.
Course owners have quietly searched for a buyer since last fall, but recently made the sale public to squash rumors of its imminent closure, management said.
“The golf course has struggled for the past few years due to the reduction in rounds of golf in general, but it’s been especially tough in the Lompoc market,” course vice president/general manager John Carson said. “We get all kinds of calls about the property, asking if it’s closing or already closed or not being maintained, which is not the case.”
The 309-acre course, located along Highway 246, currently has no commercial development or housing, but it’s being marketed to potential buyers as a location for a vineyard, winery, or tasting room with a golf course.
“If it does that, then somebody might decide no more public golf course,” Carson said. “Play it while you can, because it may not be there in two months, or three months; we don’t know.”
La Purisima has twice received 4 1/2-star ratings from readers of Golf Digest, and was named the 40th best public course in the country by the readers of Golf World. Course developer Kenneth Hume Hunter, Jr., built the course in 1986 with the help of renowned golf course architect Robert Muir Graves.
This article appears in Apr 19-26, 2012.