Over the past decade, the leisure activity most closely associated with corporate success in America has been in a kind of recession. The total number of people in the US who play golf has declined or remained flat each year since 2000, dropping to about 26 million from 30 million, according to the National Golf Foundation. Amador County is home to at least six golf courses that have felt the impact. On Highway 49 alone, there are at least 29 golf courses between Sonora and Auburn. With a modest county wide population of 38,000, local courses are dependent on commuter golfers from the Sacramento area.

According to Dominic Atlan, Director of Golf at Castle Oaks Golf Course in Ione, it’s no secret that golf has been on the decline. He has followed a drop in rounds at Castle Oaks by a yearly average of 8000. “It seems more people are giving up the game than taking up the game,” says Atlan. Other local courses, like Mace Meadows in Pioneer, have made staffing cuts. Once popular and promising courses like the Winchester and Dark Horse in Ione are now in foreclosure. The disappearance of golfers over the past several years is part of a broader decline in outdoor activities, according to a number of academic and recreational industry studies. Escalating gas prices in a worsening economy are also being blamed. But golf, a sport of long-term investors who buy the expensive equipment and build the courses — has always seemed to exist in a world above the fray of shifting demographics. Maybe not anymore.