A popular golf course northwest of Calgary officially closed down for good this week, shocking a number of players who’ve played at the facility for years.

Visitors to the Bearspaw Country Club, off of Crowchild Trail, were stunned earlier this week when they found the gates had been locked up, especially because the course had been open for business as usual just before Calgary’s snowstorm on Saturday.

“I was really surprised and disappointed,” says Scott Stiles, a golf professional who has strong ties to the course. “I think there were a lot of us in the same boat that didn’t think it would come all the way to this.”

He says many people knew things weren’t going well at the course but it’s a shock to know they won’t ever get to play there again.

“It was just home. With golf in my life, it was just home,” he says. “As a kid, then my junior golf, amateur golf, even as I turned pro and was playing all over the place.”

Stiles, who had just taken on his dream job of teaching at Bearspaw, feels for all the other people at the course who are now out of work.

“That’s the tough part. I get it, there’s people who don’t have a golf course to play at, but there’s 80 some full-time or part-time people that don’t have a job. We’re in May; it’s not like there’s golf industry jobs all over the place this time of year, so it’s tough from that side of things.”

Despite what anyone says on social media about what led to the closure, Stiles wants to set the record straight.

“The clubhouse went significantly over budget and we needed a certain number of members to chip in over the last couple of months; an extra amount after they’ve already paid,” he says. “We didn’t get there on Friday and this is where we’re at today.”

Stiles still has hope that someone could come in and buy the course and turn things around.

“Part of me will always feel like that; I want to believe that. I don’t think it’s completely outside the realm of possibility. It’s tough to judge us right now with the gates closed and nothing going on.”

The Bearspaw Country Club’s board of directors did not make any comment about the closure.

(With files from Glenn Campbell)