It was a gray day Tuesday, but that didn’t stop a few duffers from making the rounds at Squirrel Run Golf Club.

But that may be a rare sight come next year.

“As of the first of February, I’ll be closing it down,” said Perry Segura, the architect and developer who built the course in 1986. “I’m retiring from my architecture business, and I have been supporting it financially, but I can’t continue to do that.”

Segura said he has explored several opportunities to keep the 18-hole course open, but nothing has come to fruition.

“I offered to donate it to the parish,” Segura said. “They really should take it. I served on a national parks and recreation board, and every municipality had their own course. It’s a quality golf course. It is an asset to the community.”

Squirrel Run is not the first golf club to be offered to the parish to operate. Previously, the owners of Sugar Oaks Golf Club had approached local government about a possible arrangement, but the offer was rejected. 

Squirrel Run is the latest course to hit financial hard times. Across the Vermilion Parish line, the owners of Vermilion Oaks Golf Course were in negotiations with the city of Abbeville to take over its operation. That course closed last year after 88 years in business.

Even after the developer made several concessions, including paying a portion of the start-up costs to get the club running again, the Abbeville City Council balked at assuming responsibility for the operation.

Segura said he still has hopes that a way can be found to keep the course running.

“It cost $10 million to build it,” Segura said, “and it has paid for itself. It’s a lucrative property. But unless someone is willing to make a deal to buy it or lease it, I will have to shut it down.”