- May 13, 2026
About 40 Ormond Beach residents stood in front of the shuttered River Bend Golf Course on Tuesday, May 12, in a demonstration of support for reopening the golf course.
It's a sentiment that has echoed in the community since the golf course closed in December 2020, when its last operator filed for bankruptcy. Many of the proponents for reopening it as a municipal golf course reside in Bear Creek Village, a 55-and-up community that abuts the 172-acre golf course property.
Sheila Lind is among those advocates and helped organize the group who came out to the former golf course property.
"We've gone to the city council meetings a few times and said we'd like the golf course reopened," Lind said. "They didn't feel that there was enough interest in it. So we're really trying to show them that it's not two people coming to the city, it's the 60-70 people that all wanted to come to the city but weren't able to or they didn't think their voices mattered."
Lind and her husband Jeff retired to Ormond Beach during the COVID-19 pandemic, and thought the golf course would reopen once things went back to normal. It was their hope, she said, to retire and be able to golf at River Bend.
In an email to city staff, which was later forwarded to the Ormond Beach City Commission, Economic Development Director Brian Rademacher said the Federal Aviation Administration advised the city that it would not consider a release from the land being used for aeronautical purposes or to be sold without a master plan update projecting 20-year aeronautical demand. This would include a demand/capacity analysis and an airport layout plan update.
"In practical terms, this means the city cannot move forward with consideration of nonaeronautical reuse of the property, including the golf course, until the required studies are completed and reviewed by the FAA," Rademacher wrote.
The city's current 2014 airport master plan doesn't expire until 2034.
In his email, Rademacher clarified that the city's actions "before and after the golf course closure have been driven by FAA compliance obligations rather than by a predetermined preference regarding future land use," as well as citing an obligation to consider long-term airport financial sustainability.
"The prior lease arrangement generated approximately $100,000 annually for more than 100 acres, which limited the airport’s ability to generate revenue needed for airport obligations and repayment of prior airport related capital investments funded by the General Fund," he wrote.
In 2025, the city was also ordered to pay the Volusia County Property Appraiser over $377,000 in unpaid taxes following a seven-year lawsuit. The city had argued that the unpaid taxes, calculated at $240,848 at the time of the initial suit, were the responsibility of the golf course's lessee. The unpaid taxes had accumulated since 2013, unbeknownst to the city until five years later.
The golf course opened in 1991 and had always been operated by a private lessee.
The city has explored other uses in the past, including building a 67-acre park with running and biking trails, more hangars, fixed-base operator facilities and commercial office space. In 2021, the city's then airport director also inquired about reopening the golf course, but the city was considering a runway extension at that time and the FAA responded that reopening the golf course seemed "counter intuitive."
Mayor Jason Leslie said if the golf course is the highest and best use of the property, then it's something the city should explore.
"If the community asks about it, we should look into it," Leslie said.
Ormond Beach resident Don Miller played on golf course until its last day of operation. Now, he drives out to LPGA to play.
River Bend was a popular course, he said.
"It was beautiful," Miller said. "It was the best layout in the county. I've played them all."
He'd like to see the city proceed with the airport master plan update to allow for the golf course to reopen, and then explore a sale to a golf course operator who will renovate the property.
Golf courses that can be fixed up are selling now, Miller said.
"The one in Flagler just sold for $800,000 and it's 37 acres," he said. "This is like 170 acres. A real golf course, not nine holes."
Dutch Harrison moved to Ormond Beach seven years ago. Prior to its closure, he and his fellow members of the American Legion would hold their fundraisers at River Bend.
"The course would support us and we reciprocated," he said.
If River Bend were to reopen, he'd help to keep it busy. Harrison said he organizes a group of golfers, an average of 60 during the season, and they all play together at the Spruce Creek Country Club in Port Orange.
Tuesday was a rainy day, and Harrison said he had 32 golfers show up and play. A month ago, he had about 100 golfers in his group.
The idea that golf is a dying sport is untrue, Lind said.
"I think that's an ill-conceived notion," she said. "It continues to grow. There's still golf in the youth. There's golf in the colleges. There's golf in the retirement, and I don't think it'll ever go away. Having a golf course here in our community that we can support would show them it can actually generate revenue for the city."
A "River Bend Golf Course reunion" will be held from 12-2 p.m. on May 30 at the Beaver Bar in Ormond Beach to invite people to join their cause and participate in a survey. The survey responses will then be submitted to the city.
