Fort Meade Golf Course to Close This Spring

The Fort Meade Golf Course, a fixture at the Fort George G. Meade army base since 1950, will close May 1, officials at Fort George G. Meade said this month. The 27-hole course is closing months ahead of its scheduled September closing to allow for base construction projects.

“I know the golf course will be missed,” said Fort Meade garrison commander Col. Edward C. Rothstein in a release. “It has served me along with the entire Team Meade community…. However, the decision to support national security, DoD priorities and our partners is not difficult.”

The National Security Agency is performing a $2 billion, 1.8 million-square-foot expansion on the land. It is estimated to generate thousands of jobs in the area by 2017. Course superintendent Jim Ladebush told Annapolis-based Capital Gazette Communications that golfers at the course are disappointed but not so surprised by the earlier than expected closing.

“They’re pretty disappointed,” Ladebush told Capital Gazette. “They’re trying to figure out where they’re going to play golf. There are people who’ve been out there for 40 years who are losing their golf course.”