ALTADENA, Calif. — Bill Fennessy grew up a few blocks away from the Altadena Golf Course. At 14, he had his first job there, where he picked up range balls and charged golf carts. He bought his first set of clubs there. He’s played golf at the nine-hole public course for 52 years and has been the club president the last 22. He won the team play championship with his buddies in 2023, which is one of his favorite golf accomplishments.
The course—located in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California, with a weekend greens fee of $27—is where so many of his best memories were made, so he was devastated by January’s Eaton Fire that destroyed 9,400 structures, homes and businesses among them, and killed 17 people. The fire also burned the clubhouse and restaurant but left the Altadena Golf Course and driving range largely untouched.
“I would consider it an oasis in the middle of the destruction,” said Fennessy, who now lives in Long Beach but returned to see the damage.
Altadena is a historically black community, and the course—home to a diverse group of golfers—opened in 1910. However, after 115 years, it faces an uncertain future.
Beginning this week, the Altadena Golf Course became a staging area for hazardous waste as part of the Phase 2 cleanup from the devastating fire. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Los Angeles County—which owns the land—signed a lease agreement for the course to be a “temporary staging area that EPA will use for the temporary storage of hazardous materials collection from the Eaton Fire burn footprint.” The course was identified as the third staging area for temporary storage of hazardous materials in the Altadena area.
“We do view it as there are times where the greater good of the community is the most important thing, especially because we’re an operator that primarily operates municipal golf courses,” Tom Bugbee, the COO of CourseCo, Inc., which leases and operates the golf course from L.A. County, told Golf Digest. “We’re very aware of the place a golf course has in a community, and this may be one of those very unique circumstances where this was the best thing for the community overall, even though we understand there will be a lot of varying opinions.”
Bugbee said the plan is for the course to re-open, but there’s no timeline. He said the company’s contact is with L.A. County, not the EPA.
“We haven’t been told a timeline other than it is temporary,” Bugbee said. “What temporary means, I certainly don’t know. I’m sure everyone else is still trying to figure that out as well. There is a commitment that this is still going to be a golf course. It will be a return to a golf course and eventually a new clubhouse and cart barn and maintenance facility. And the long-term is still the same. It’s going to serve a short-term different purpose.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom discussed the concerns of all the staging areas in a daily media briefing he held on Tuesday, in which he deemed them as “short-term” staging areas.
“That process will be substantially done by the end of the month, but they’ll still utilize some of the staging areas for as much as 60 [days] … an extended period of time to maybe 90 days,” Newsom said. “Those sites are being completely cleaned up. They’re being monitored. They’re being assessed. And we’re going to hold everyone to a level of accountability as it relates to those sites coming back cleaner than when they found that. That’s just temporary staging.”
Went by the Altadena Golf Course recently to see the damage to the clubhouse and restaurant from the Eaton Fire. The golf course, largely untouched, is in the background. Such an important place to so many in the community. Been around since 1910. pic.twitter.com/OB5D3vsads
— Jill Painter Lopez (@jillpainter) February 12, 2025
The news is hard to process for Fennessy, who was hopeful for a return to play by summer.
“We had plans of holding a meet-and-greet with food and drinks in the parking of the golf course to try to keep peoples’ spirts up,” Fennessy said. “That’s how that would’ve gone. It would’ve been something.”
The restaurant at the Altadena Golf Course was dubbed the “10th Hole Bar & Grill,” appropriate name for the 19th hole on a nine-hole golf course, served everything from the Altadena scramble—eggs, ham, peppers and onions—to fish tacos.
“When a golf course that’s been around that long, it’s meant a lot to a lot of people,” Bugbee said. “In many circumstances, multiple generations have used the facility to learn to play golf there, taken their kids and grandkids out there, so it’s very emotional. It sits within the community. Some golf courses sit on the edge of the community. We are out in open space.
Bill Fennessey has played at Altadena Golf Course for more than 50 years.
Bugbee said CourseCo, Inc has operated the course for a little more than seven years. “I was there the first day of our operation. I can speak to the people that come into the restaurant who come there two to three times a week,” he said. “They know the servers and the bartenders and the pro shop people. It’s certainly more than just a golf course. It’s a gathering place. It’s a community spot.
“Fire is a tragedy, and that makes it a little extra tragic. I’ll go back to L.A. County’s commitment and their view on this being returned. While any delay doesn’t feel good, it is reassuring this will return someday and I’m sure those people will be there to celebrate with us.”
Fennessy echoed those sentiments about the importance of the golf course.
“It’s a big deal. Folks use it. It’s a gathering place for people in the community and most of the community is black,” Fennessy said. “You see folks of all colors and shapes and sizes and ages playing golf.
“A day on the weekend there is a great example of what the community is like and how it behaves [which is] wonderfully. As one would hope. Everyone is great and gets along and everyone is happy. Everyone supports everyone. It’s what the American dream is supposed to look like.”
The area still has an opportunity for golfers to play at in the Eaton Golf Course, also operated by CourseCo Inc., which is about four miles from the Altadena course. Bugbee said Eaton is expected to re-open in a couple of weeks. They are in the middle of cleanup from ash and smoke, but there was minimal damage to the course, mostly created by winds, according to Bugbee. He called it a “silver lining” that golfers will have a place close by to play in the meantime. They’ll fully re-open.
A picture of Altadena before the fires. “It’s an oasis. It’s beautiful,” said Bill Fennessy. “We have to hope everyone does as they say, and they rebuild the golf course.” (Photo courtesy of Altadena Golf Course)
Golfer Christine Singer-Luna said she played the Altadena course at least four times a year in events with the Latina Golfers Association. She loved connecting with friends from all over the region, as she loved the convenience because of its proximity to the 210 Freeway.
This was one of the courses Singer-Luna felt comfortable playing on when she first learned to golf at 27. She also loved the clubhouse and big meeting space for a meal and bonding. She met so many people there.
“I think, specifically, it’s always so open to people and golfers of all levels,” Singer-Luna said. “The course opened golf up to me. I’ve played as a novice golfer and years later as a more advanced golfer. It’s always a different experience every time. One of the key factors I like is they had an open clubhouse and restaurant. It makes you want to come back. You can have a space for camaraderie after golf or to grab a burrito or coffee before your round. Not a lot of courses have that. Altadena had a great gathering space. I always liked that.”
Singer-Luna said the association has been welcomed at other courses, and the LTA is just one group that’s being displaced.
“It’s quite a shock. People live around the golf course. It’s an oasis. It’s beautiful. People walk their dogs around it,” Fennessy said. “… We have to hope everyone does as they say, and they rebuild the golf course. The impact is big. Some would say it’s just a little nine-hole course in the foothills. It has a grass range that is hugely popular and people all over the San Gabriel Valley would come hit balls there. There was a junior program, so much activity. There are seven or eight high school and college teams that practice there. It’s busy all the time.”
It will continue to be busy, but a different purpose in the cleanup of the Altadena community.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
