Genoa Lakes golf course will remain open

GENOA, Nev. — The southern Genoa Lakes Golf Course, senior of the two, will remain open for the rest of this season and next season, a partner in the company said on Sept. 19.

However, owners plan to either sell the course or the land it sits on.

“It’s the best way we can preserve the centerpiece amenity of the neighborhood and the property value,” Genoa Golf Group IV Managing Partner Fred Gartrell said.

While members of the Genoa Lakes Homeowners Association rejected all of the golf course owners’ proposals, especially turning the course’s back nine into homes, other factors played into the decision.

He said ideas from a few residents gave partners hope.

“There were some people who went to a lot of trouble to give us some really good input, and we appreciated that,” he said.

The golf course was also able to attract the U.S. Open Qualifier that had been at Edgewood.

“That’s a big, big deal,” he said. “There are only 16 in the country.”

The development at the Genoa Lakes Ranch Course was another factor in the partners’ decision.

“We have such a fabulous property up at the ranch and we are seeing all kinds of development up there,” he said.

One of those projects consists of patio homes, which could provide smaller homes for residents of the communities to downsize.

Gartrell acknowledged that homeowners don’t want to see the Lakes course developed any further and that they don’t want mandatory membership fees.

The golf course and homes are owned separately. Gartrell said the partners sent their survey to 220 post office boxes and they received 147 back. He said 19 people voted to require full golf memberships for residents. The two options involved with developing the back nine, which straddles the Carson River, was soundly rejected, with one vote and two votes respectively.

“They really slammed us big over that,” he said.

The proposal to sell the course for $6 million to residents also only received two votes.

A dozen residents voted to close the course, while more than 100 other residents wrote in none of the above.

Gartrell said he felt that anyone seeking to operate the course would find similar circumstances.

However, he said they would be marketing it to a variety of possible buyers, including the county, the town, environmental groups, an individual, the homeowners or even one of the hotel casinos.

He cited the purchase of Redhawk in Sparks by the Peppermill.

In the meantime, the Lakes Course will close in November for the season so they can repair some of the damage from last year’s floods and then reopen in spring.

The Ranch course will remain open six days a week through the winter.

Ground was broken for Genoa Lakes, which was co-designed by professional golfer Peter Jacobsen, in 1991. The course opened in July 1993.

Homes started to be built along the golf course in 1994.