UPDATE, March 2019: The Aetna Springs resort has been purchased by new owners… whose plans are yet to be unveiled, but it looks like there is sufficient capital in the new ownership group and a desire to run a resort… stay tuned! Cross your fingers for more golf at Aetna!
— old post info below —
Unfortunately for fans of great 9-hole golf in Wine Country, the Aetna Springs Golf Course is closed until further notice, as part of an ongoing ownership change. The Napa Valley Register has the news about the closure, which is basically happening because there just simply weren’t enough golfers visiting the course to make it a viable business.
It’s a problem we noted when we profiled the course in our book, Nines in the Vines, namely that it’s a tough drive to get to Aetna Springs, and the lack of nearby facilities — restaurants, hotels, wineries, anything — makes it a golfing-only trip. But we find it hard to believe that the new owners (who have not yet revealed themselves) will make money turning the course into private homes as the same problems will exist with a new neighborhood. It’s our hope that the course — one of our favorites anywhere, 9-hole or 18-hole — will survive in some fashion so golfers can enjoy it again.
For now, we are not going to update our book until we hear definitive plans for the course’s future. We are planning another trip to Wine Country this spring and will attempt to find out more if we can on the ground, so stay tuned. For now, there are always the other excellent courses in our “rota” to play, like Northwood GC and Healdsburg Golf Course at Tayman Park, so your weekends can still be filled with excellent 9-hole golf.