Residents hope to prevent development on Tides Golf Course

SEMINOLE (FOX 13) - A popular St. Pete golf course will close its doors for good. Saturday marks the last day to play a round at the Tides Golf Club and people who live next to the course are worried about what might be built in its place.

Just a few days ago, golfers were given notice that the course, which sits on Boca Ciega Bay, will close July 1.

Ronald Ronz lives on the course and helped form a group called Save the Tides.

A few years ago, the previous owner tried to get the Pinellas County Commission to re-zone the course for development in hopes to build some sort of housing project.

Homeowners fought the county with a petition of more than 14,000 signatures and won.

Ronz fears that the new owner of the course is, once again, trying to do the same.

“We anticipate that their application to rezone the property for development is forthcoming," Ronz said.  "It would be awful, we would probably have a lot of people put their houses of for sale and we'd all take a hit on our property values."

The golf course released the following statement to FOX 13 News Saturday: 

In November of 2016, The Tides Golf Club was purchased from Wells Fargo with a desire for the club to continue operating as a public golf course. During the first 18 months under new ownership, the new owners replaced an aged golf cart fleet with brand new carts, installed new irrigation pumps, improved golf course views, and upgraded the fuel storage facility in an effort to improve the financial stability of the club. After enduring Hurricane Irma and the ensuing clean-up, the club has seen a continued decrease of activity. Due to the lack of support from the golfing community, the owners have made the decision to close operations effective July 1, 2018.