Page 36 - Las Vegas Golf & Leisure Magazine Winter 2022

IN THE BIZ

GOOD MANAGEMENT

RESCUES

MISSION ROYAL GOLF CLUB

ELITE GOLF MANAGEMENT

Story by Bill Bowman
Photography Provided by Elite Golf

t’s a story that has been written way too many times. A
golf course is built and has early success. Then there
are stumbles and a few ownership changes along the
way. After one last-ditch effort to make it all work, the
I course begins to fade. Cuts are made as the owners
try to keep up with maintenance while still offering a great
product. But it suddenly becomes too much and the end
gets closer. The number of rounds dwindle. The course con-
ditions begin to suffer. And then, finally, the doors close.

End of story—end of another golf course.

That exact scenario took place late in 2020 at Mission
Royale Golf Club in Casa Grande, Arizona. But this one
has a twist. This course is making a comeback, all thanks
to those who call the course home. The golf course, a Greg
Nash design, opened for play in 2004 and they were off and
running. Then came some trouble and an eventual closing
on December 29, 2020.

That could have been the end of the course. But Jay
Moelis and six others who lived in the community quickly
came up with a plan to help keep the hopes—and the golf
course—alive. “December 29 was the date that triggered
everything,” Moelis says. “We had a function up here and
they announced the course was closing. That made it a

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