Adobe Creek Golf Course to Reopen Saturday

, which shut its doors last December before eventually going into bankruptcy, is set to open again this Saturday.

“We’ll have a grand opening a little bit later,” said Bill Carson, director of golf for Windsor Golf Course as well as , located about a mile from Adobe Creek. “This will be more of a quiet re-opening.”

But no matter what it’s called, the re-opening is good news for Petaluma golfers and other players in the area who have enjoyed the 18-hole Robert Trent Jones layout since it was built in 1991. It’s also good news for Rooster Run, which had been crowded with golfers moving over when Adobe closed.

“All the heavy lifting is done,” said Carson, who has been overseeing the reconditioning at Adobe since developer Bill Gallaher purchased the property for an estimated $2.5 million in the spring. “We’re wrapping up a lot of hard work.”

That includes extensive work on bunkers, repairing damaged cart paths and trying to resurrect greens that had fallen prey to thatch and disease. There were also 90 broken sprinkler heads that had to be replaced.

Even though Carson is associated with Windsor, Rooster Run and now Adobe Creek, he said separate ownership of each site creates a unique set of challenges when operating the three courses and what each can offer.

“I work for three different bosses,” said Carson, adding that some golf packages will include opportunities to play at both Adobe Creek and Rooster Run. “Golfers will be able to call Rooster and make tee times at Adobe and vise versa.”

Carson said a crew of 25-30 maintenance employees have helped get the course into “playable shape,” and said a regular maintenance staff of 8-10 people will be retained to continue to improve and maintain the facility and two or three hires will be made to handle the pro shop.

Rob Watson, head pro at Rooster Run will “split his time” and be in charge of operations at Adobe Creek, and a search is on to hire a teaching pro at Adobe.

Besides improvements to the course, one major change at Adobe Creek is that the restaurant-clubhouse-pro shop has been shut down.

“That structure was overbuilt for our needs,” said Carson. “It wasn’t well-designed to include a pro shop.”

Carson said the large building will remain unused, but he is open to someone coming forward to lease it and operate it as a restaurant or offices. The new pro shop will be considerably scaled down and be located at the old instructional facility near the driving range.

Food will be available, as well as basic equipment like balls and tees. However, club-fitting will not be available.

He said relocating to a smaller pro shop location is not an interim move.

“We will have two computers and the new pro shop will have plenty of room to handle our needs,” said Carson, adding that a machine to dispense range balls will also be available and the range will also re-open Saturday.

Carson said he has contacted the Adobe Creek homeowners association and also the men’s club but for the most part has kept the re-opening low profile.

He said the course really needs a growing season in order to bring it back to where Carson and Gallaher want it to be.

“I expect by next spring the course will be in much better shape,” he said, suggesting the goal was to make it as playable as Rooster Run.

Green fees will be about the same as those charged at Rooster Run, the lone exception that non-resident rates will be about 10 percent less than at Rooster Run.

Present rates at Rooster Run include $38 Monday-Thursday, $58 weekends and holidays for the general public; $29 Monday-Thursday, $33 Friday, $44 weekends and holidays for Petaluma residents.

“The condition of the (Adobe) course was a factor,” said Carson. “But the county needs to find ways to promote golf and bring in more players to the area.”

The goal, he stressed, is to bring Adobe Creek to a maintenance level comparable to Rooster Run and create more rounds of golf.

“We’re not where we want to be, but Adobe Creek is playable,” said Carson. “This is a work in progress.”

Golfers hoping to play this weekend can call 765-3000, or the pro shop at Rooster Run, 778-1211 starting Friday.

To contact Bruce Meadows, email meadows.patch@gmail.com or bmeadows4sports@aol.com