October 8, 2004

Pleasant Hills/Cypress Greens Golf Courses close abruptly

Neighbors dread development, prefer open space

By Bea Baechle
Editor

After 45 years in business, Pleasant Hills and Cypress Greens Golf Courses closed on Sept. 30 without warning.

“Operations are no longer economically viable due to tough economic times, increased competition and the rising cost of doing business,” said Francis Duino, owner and manager of the course. He is the son of founder Henry Duino, who designed and built the courses in 1959.

Duino senior, a former caddy who fell in love with the game of golf, acquired the 115 acres on South White Road and personally designed and began building the courses by hand, sculpting the greens and bunkers with a tractor and planting the trees by seed.

His goal was to build quality courses that would provide affordable golf to the public. He designed and built a total of four courses in Santa Clara County, which enjoyed a thriving following for many years.

But over the past decade, several new public courses were built, including Los Lagos Golf Course, a premier public course located just three miles from Pleasant Hills and Cypress Greens Golf Courses.

According to Duino, the increased competition, compounded by skyrocketing utility, agricultural water, workers compensation and labor costs, have made it impossible for the course to remain viable.

“Closing this golf course is an injustice to the seniors,” said Evergreen resident Gerv Laundria, noting that many of the people who still used the affordable golf courses are seniors.

Other Evergreen residents have speculated that the owners purposely let the golf courses degrade into a state of disrepair to justify their closure and expedite the selling and development of the land.

Not the first attempt to develop the land
The sudden closure of the golf courses, however, has alerted neighbors that development of the land may be looming closer than they had anticipated. Until the closing, many did not realize that the golf courses were included in one of the major land parcels being discussed by members of the Evergreen Visioning Project, a community task force grappling with how to best leverage the last large remaining open spaces in Evergreen.

Ellie Glass, a native San Jose resident who lives in the Pala Rancho development bordering the golf course, said that this is not the first attempt to develop the land that once belonged to her ancestors.

“I have fond memories of Henry Duino (senior) driving his golf cart and the kids waving to him on the street, but Henry wanted to develop the land back in 1978,” said Glass. “I remember attending a City Planning Commission meeting when I was just 12 years old. We fought this in the past and won.”

Glass noted that, based on the strong public outcry, Dunio’s attempt to rezone the property so that he could develop it in 1978 was thwarted by the City Council.

According to Councilmember Dave Cortese, the land is actually in an unincorporated pocket of the county, and both the Planning Commission and the San Jose City Council would need to approve annexation before any development could take place on the property.

“City, county and state policy strongly encourages annexation of unincorporated pockets, mainly because the county cannot provide police, fire, water, sewer and other essential services,” added Cortese, who doesn’t see this as a stumbling block for any planned development currently being discussed by the Evergreen Visioning Project.

Some of the 115 acres will remain as open space, but homes and some commercial development are likely to be included. Dozens of neighbors attended an Evergreen Visioning Project meeting on Oct. 6 where the Pleasant Hills/Cypress Greens Golf Courses were slated for discussion, but process questions and extended comments on the Arcadia property near Eastridge Shopping Mall kept the issue from even coming up.

“Everyone I’ve talked to is unhappy with the development. The neighbors that I spoke to bought homes in Pala Rancho because of the golf course setting, and they want to see it preserved as open space,” said Glass.

“It’s unfortunate, because I’ve lived here all my life, and it was part of my grandfather’s and part of my great-grandfather’s land,” continued Glass, referring to the original 520-acre Marten Ranch dating back to the 1800s.

“It was my grandfather’s vision that the 115 acres remain as open space,” added Glass, recalling that Fred Marten DeMeza watched the Marten Ranch land sold off, parcel by parcel, with the Pleasant Hills and Cypress Greens Golf Courses left as the last parcel of open space in that land.

The next Evergreen Visioning Project meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 3, 6:30 to 9 p.m., at Carolyn Clark Elementary School, 3701 Rue Mirassou. The public is invited to listen to the EVP task force’s discussion, which will include recommendations for the Mt. Pleasant Hills and Cypress Greens Golf Courses. A public comment session is offered at the end of the meeting.

Questions? Call the District 8 office at (408) 277-5242.