Adobe Creek to Reopen This Summer

Updated Monday, April 11, 2011.

, the 18-hole East Petaluma facility that closed its doors last December, has been sold and is scheduled to re-open as early as this summer.

Bill Carson, general manager of Windsor and Petaluma’s , said Thursday that the course has been sold to Bill Gallaher, a Sonoma County builder and developer who was instrumental in the development of Oakmont Golf Course in Santa Rosa in the 1980s.

No purchase price was provided, although one unidentified source indicated the selling price was approximately $2.5 million, the original asking price.

Adobe’s closure in December was a blow to Petaluma-area golfers, and others who frequented the Robert Trent Jones layout. Sonoma Golf Club went private several years ago and Los Arroyos, a nine-hole course between Sonoma and Petaluma, is in foreclosure.

Adobe filed for Chapter 11 (restructuring) in March of last year, which changed to Chapter 7 (bankruptcy) in late November. The course later went into court-appointed receivership, with Robb Evans and Associates, a Los Angeles-based firm, managing the property for East-West Bancorp.

Kenton Johnson, a spokesman for Robb Evans, said a golf management company, Touchstone, a Berkeley-based firm, was hired to oversee  maintenance at Adobe, which in January terminated the services of Spencer Curran, Adobe’s GM since early 2007.

There was a bank-run public auction in Santa Rosa in January, but no bids reportedly matched or exceeded the $2.5 price tag set by East-West Bank, which was handling the foreclosure.

The course has been maintained by Touchstone since it went into foreclosure, but Carson indicated he and his staff are now overseeing maintenance while the new owners decide what needs to be done to make the course playable.

“We were chosen to oversee maintenance, a barebones maintenance right now, and we are in discussion (with Bill Gallaher) to operate when decisions are finalized on the course,” said Carson. “We are helping with a list of needs and requirements to get the course open.

Steve McCullagh, who brokered the deal and represents the new owners, Adobe
Investments, LLC, said the escrow was very quick, about 10 days instead of a more common 120 days.

He confirmed the sale and said the new owners will spend the next 60-120 days assessing and evaluating the property and what needs to be done. He also confirmed that Carson’s staff has taken over maintenance in the interim with a decision to be made later on who will actually operate the facility. He indicated the desire of the new owner is to open the course as early as is reasonable, possibly July or August.

Rooster Run, located about a mile away from Adobe, has been able to accommodate a number of the displaced Adobe golfers, including the men’s and women’s clubs. The only other course in Petaluma is , which is private and located on the west side of town.

Still, many are welcoming the news of Adobe Creek's purchase.

"I am thrilled they will be opening the course soon," said John O'Connor, past president of the Adobe Creek Men's Club. "The condition of the course has deteriorated for the past few years as the previous owners filtered off money to pay  bad investments at their other courses...We hope that the new owners will not rush opening the course but get it in good shape and something we can be proud of again."