Trinitas Golf Club, CLOSED 2012

Detailed description of Trinitas Golf Club, CLOSED 2012

Trinitas Golf Club is a public 18-hole golf course located in Valley Springs, California.

The course first opened for play in 2008. The course was designed by Mike Nemee.

Championship tees: par-72, 6,696 yards, 73.3 / 149
Back tees: par-72, 6,479 yards, 72.3 / 147
Middle tees: par-72, 6,002 yards, 70.5 / 141
Forward tees: par-72, 4,975 yards

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The highly acclaimed Trinitas Golf Club closed at the end of May, 2012.

The course did not close because it was losing money. The course closed because of county officials ruled that a golf course is not an agriculture endeavor. After the course had been finished, county officials insisted that the course lacked required permitting. 

When county officials refused in a 3-2 vote to issue the required permits, and the course was doomed.

The course was built and designed by Mike Nemee. We are not talking about some multi- millionaire tycoon, but a young family man with a dream and determination to create a unique golf course. The rolling foothill land with the Sierras as a backdrop was almost perfect. The course opened in 2008 and quickly gained a reputation as “a Player’s Course” built to challenge high-handicap golfers. 

The layout was known for superb playing conditions routed amidst the olive trees, native grasses, and rolling terrain. With many elevated tees, the course played shorter than its’ measurement. That was your only break on this impeccably conditioned course.

What caused the project to die in litigation? On the surface, it was not having the proper permitting. Which also meant not being able to refinance the project. The Nemees reasoned the course was allowed under agricultural zoning in place. However, new County leaders interpreted agriculture in the narrowest sense of the word. Permitting that Nemee had been led to believe he would get when he built and operated the project was not to be. 

At issue was whether a golf course and olive oil producing orchard qualified as agriculturally related. 

With the county reportedly spending more than $500,000 to litigate, this was a case where Goliath was going to win.

For a few years, something magical existed on that remote 280-acre property just off of Ospital Road near Valley Springs, Calaveras County, California.