Indian Creek Golf Club shuts its doors

Told by his boss Friday that Indian Creek Golf Course was closing, John Shank — assistant maintenance foreman at the 9-hole course in Loomis — said he didn't believe it.So early Saturday morning, he and about 20 other members of the Indian Creek Men's Golf Club showed up in order to be ready for their weekly 7 a.m. tee time.They got only as far as the gate."The locks were changed on the gate. I couldn't let anybody in," Shank said.Shank, a resident of Roseville, is not at all that happy that members weren't notified about the closure."Some of these people spent $2,000 on a year's membership — now they can't even get in there. I think that's wrong," he said.Shank said he has been an employee at the golf course, located on Barton Road, for almost six years. He has been a member of the men's club for two years, but as an employee he was allowed to golf without paying a yearly or monthly fee."This golf course is a little gem. They ran it into the ground by raising their prices. I think what they did is wrong," Shank said.The men's golf club, Shank said, is looking for a new location to play, perhaps at Whitney Oaks or Sierra Pines at Del Webb, "wherever they can get a new home," he said.According to Shank, Indian Creek has three full-time employees, as well as several part-timers during the summer season.Shank said he learned he was being laid off from Leonard Theis, the golf course superintendent at Indian Creek.Theis, of Lincoln, said he worked at Indian Creek for five years. It's been a rough winter for golf courses everywhere, he said."All I know is the gates are locked; final paychecks will be distributed tomorrow," Theis said. "I hate to see the course closed. It's a great little golf course."Monday afternoon, a sign at the locked main gate said, "Course closed." The club's phone mailbox for Lance Reginato, the general manager, indicated the box was full and no message could be left.In an April 2009 story in the Loomis News about the golf course, Reginato said Indian Creek was purchased by J.B.A. Golf1 LLC in 2006.Mary Ann Horton has belonged to the Indian Creek Women's Golf Club for decades. She said there are more than 70 members, and about 40 played regularly on Wednesdays.Horton said she was notified by e-mail that the gates were locked and that the golf course is "in foreclosure." Her group won't miss this week's game."We're going to play on Wednesday at Woodcreek," Horton said.Charles Empey, of Loomis, said he's not a club member, but plays golf there often."I went to play on Friday afternoon and was told the course was closed indefinitely and to leave," Empey said.The Loomis News will following this story and report developments to our readers as more information becomes available.