Aetna Springs Golf Course, CLOSED 2018

Aetna Springs Golf Course is a Public, 9 hole golf course located in Pope Valley, California.

Aetna Springs golf course first opened for play in 1892. The course is the course in California. Situated in the mountains with 2 creeks running through, the site is idyllic.

The course was designed by E.F. Mutton. Both Tom Doak and Jim Urbina had at different times redesigned/restored the course.

Aetna Springs is on the National Register of Historic Places and first welcomed visitors to its mineral springs in the late 1800s. Several historic structures near the springs are in the Arts-and-Crafts style, and noted architect Bernard Maybeck is believed to have designed at least one of the buildings. The nine-hole golf course was built in 1890.

For decades, the resort attracted visitors from around the region, as well as Hollywood celebrities and other notables. In 1966, Ronald Reagan chose Aetna Springs as the site where he announced his candidacy for governor.

In 1973, a firm called the ESI group bought the site and hoped to build 900 condominiums, but the county rejected that plan. Three years later, a business with ties to Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church acquired the resort and used it for religious retreats. It was rarely visited by the public thereafter, and in 1999 Pope Valley resident Bryant Morris leased the property. He sought to renovate Aetna Springs, but his plans ran afoul of county regulations. Morris placed a measure before county voters seeking the right to redevelop the resort but lost handily at the polls.

Morris subsequently bought the property anyway but was never able to get the business going. Current owners William Criswell and Radovan bought the property in 2006, preparing sites for homes, renovating the golf course and building a new clubhouse overlooking the course and mineral springs.

Closed 2018

The remote location worked against the course. The vision was to become a destination course with resort accommodations and expansion to 18 holes. Napa County saw it differently and denied permits for building resort lodging. With fewer than 5,000 paid rounds in 2017, the course was not economically viable. The course closed in 2018.