Husum Hills Golf Course to close May 1

Now just over 20 years later, the Strucks are calling it a day.

“It’s like losing a part of the family,” Don Struck said.

The Strucks started looking into selling the golf course as a whole about two and a half years ago when they determined it wasn’t financially viable to keep it open.

That said, keeping it a golf course following their ownership was important to the Strucks, but it ended up just not being in the cards.

“I had lots of people that had the same vision we did, but nobody with the money to go forward,” Don said. “That’s the reason we bought it and that’s the reason we really wanted it to stay a golf course. It’s just a tough financial business right now.”

Over the years, Don has noted that Husum Hills never “carried itself financially” and that he relied heavily on the help of his family to keep things running smoothly. With three of his daughters in college next year, he knew it was time to start looking at other options.

“We always felt it was so important to the community and we just did the best we could using family labor,” he said.

Currently, the Strucks have three parcels for sale in the vicinity of Husum Hills that are between an acre and a half and two acres each. The Strucks are currently in talks with the Klickitat County Planning Department regarding options for a 10- or 15-year plan for small-scale, phased residential development of the 47 acres.

“It doesn’t happen overnight. There’s a lot of planning and research that has to happen,” said Heidi Struck.

In the meantime, Husum Hills will remain open to the public through May 1 on the same honor system it always has. Players can still leave $10 in the lock box near the pro shop and then hit the links.

After May 1, the course will officially close, but the Strucks both said members of the community can still use it after that if they want.

“We won’t keep people from going out and playing if they want to play. It’s just not going to be manicured like it always has been. Once we have to start irrigating it’s overwhelming. It’s more than three people can keep up with,” Don said. “At that point it’ll just naturally run its course. It really won’t be playable anymore.”

As for local golfers, the Strucks circulated a newsletter on behalf of the staff of Husum Hills in 2014 to spread the word of the course being up for sale, but that hasn’t softened the blow for a community that will soon have to say goodbye to its golf course.

“Everybody is disappointed, but over 20 years you build up a lot of really nice relationships and I think for the most part the clientele has known for years that we were basically keeping it open for the community and they all saw the writing on the wall that it’s not viable,” Don said.