Diamond Valley Golf Course in Hemet shut down in early June.
I can't find a good link but they were sending me emails announcing the closure and the comments on their Facebook page indicate it is no longer operating.
Been a miracle it has stayed open the past 3/4 years
The drought, draining of the aquifer by ag (largely alfalfa), and possibly the dam that was built nearby basically dried up 5 of the 6 wells they had. The sixth well was limited too.
For the last 3+ years Bill Martin changed every sprinkler setup and basically spritzed enough water to try not to completely lose all the Bermuda in the fairways,tees and greens in the summer time. Trying to keep it alive until the evaporation rates got low enough to actually have the grass grow a little. The last three summers, the course basically looked closed except the greens were barely growing. He also kept a single strip of grass going on the tees
All the surrounds of the course were gone, but if you hit it in the fairway and in the green you could play
He kept the course going with a 3 man crew those years and honestly I tried to get him to write a book about what he was doing. At times the course was awful especially late in the desert summer, but when he got a little bit of a weather break, it was pretty amazing what the playing areas were like with no money and no water
Diamond Valleys demise was inevitable unfortunately, but knowing what Bill did to try to keep it going with nothing and no support is an amazing story and his experience could be invaluable to any course trying to survive