Valley Golf Center in Fresno to close at month’s end

Valley Golf Center will close at the end of the month, giving customers until July 29 to use range cards and gift cards before the north Fresno facility shuts down.

The business, at 41445 Avenue 9 just below Valley Children’s Hospital off Highway 41, announced the closure on social media and said it was doing so with great sadness. Management did not give a reason for the shutdown.

For golfers in Fresno, the loss goes beyond a driving range. Valley Golf Center opened in January 2018 on the former River Park Golf Center site and grew into a full practice complex with a 9-hole par-3 course, a 9-hole disc golf course, golf instruction, a pro shop, a café and Toptracer ball-tracking technology. In 2024, the Golf Range Association of America described it as a five-time Top 50 stand-alone facility.

The center also tied itself closely to the community. It said its focus had always been on serving the public and supporting local causes, including The First Tee of Fresno, Valley Children’s Hospital and schools such as Fresno State. The location’s golf history runs deeper still: Valley Golf Center says the original idea for the facility dates to 1998, and the property was long known as River Park Golf Center before the change in ownership.

That earlier chapter matters because the site has been linked to larger plans for the corridor around Valley Children’s Hospital. In 2017, the River Park Golf Center property was sold to Valley Children’s Hospital for possible future expansion. A report from that same year said River Park had served as the official practice facility for Fresno State’s men’s and women’s golf teams.

The closure leaves one more gap in north Fresno’s recreation map. For regulars, youth golfers and families who used the range for practice, lessons or a first taste of the game, the month’s-end deadline closes off a familiar spot that blended neighborhood access with a long local sports legacy.