The Germantown Country Club will close next month, according to a letter sent out from the club to its members.

The private club, which offers an 18-hole golf course, a pool, tennis courts and a restaurant will close Feb. 28.

Alderman Rocky Janda, a club member, confirmed it would be closing and said he found out as a member, not in his capacity as an elected alderman. He said he often played golf at the club with his grandson and was sad to learn about the closure.

Other Germantown city officials could not be reached for comment.

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Bordered by Kimbrough Road and Wolf River and Farmington boulevards and formerly known as the Farmington Country Club, the club was selected multiple times by the United States Golf Association to host the qualifying rounds of the U.S. Open Golf tournament.

Germantown Country Club’s longtime owner, Ken Anderson, died in 2012. His widow, Mary Charles Anderson, 72, was the owner of the club until she died in June.

The Andersons were philanthropists and supporters of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Ken Anderson was the founder and CEO of Allied Uniking Corporation, a Memphis-based maker of conveyor belts for automotive and non-automotive clients.

After Mary Anderson’s death, the club was placed into a trust. According to the letter, the trustee recommended the owners discontinue club operations for financial reasons.

In the letter dated Jan. 5, Tracy Aschenbrenner and Michele and David Botwinick, relatives of the Andersons, wrote that the decision to close had been a difficult one and that “all possible options to keep the club open” had been explored.

“However, based on the fiduciary responsibility of the Trustee, the club must be closed. We have many friends in the club that have played an important part of our lives. We want to continue to foster friendships moving forward,” according to the letter signatories.

They wrote they would keep members advised in the time running up to the closure and directed members to call the club office with questions.

Club employees will be given severance packages.

As Germantown has grown, the amount of available land to build on has decreased. The golf course property could be valuable to developers looking to build in the suburb.

Golf’s popularity has declined in recent years as fewer young people take up the game. A 2016 report on the golf economy in the U.S. by research firm TEConomy Partners, LLC showed a net decline of more than 700 golf facilities since 2011. However, the average revenue generated by golf facilities nationwide grew by almost 3 percent in the same timespan.

According to We Are Golf, a national organization that brings together groups that advocate for the sport, there are almost 300 golf courses in Tennessee, which employ more than 22,000 people.

Corinne Kennedy covers Germantown for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at Corinne.Kennedy@CommercialAppeal.com or on Twitter @CorinneSKennedy