Golfers say they are furious and disappointed at the decision to close Leicester's municipal Western Park Club.
City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby has confirmed the 18-hole course will shut next year.
The city council says it can no longer afford the £123,000-a-year subsidy of running it.
No firm date has been set for the 150 acre course to shut but it is likely to be October next year.
Western Park's committee member Martin Cobb said: "He's made the wrong decision. He's closing down one of the best municipal golf courses in the country
"I'm really disappointed because we know this place could be turned around and it could make money again. The council has run it down.
"The mayor has also ignored the results of consultations on this where it was clear there was support to continue.
"We're not going to go out with a whimper but a bang. We'll play our matches next season than have a big party but it will be bittersweet because this course has been open since 1910."
Sir Peter has insisted there is no plan for the golf course land once it is after the closure though he has admitted there could be some development on some parts of it.
In the short-term it will be left as publicly accessible green space and some will be permanently kept as park land.
Sir Peter said the council could not afford to run both Western Park Golf Club and the city's other municipal course at Humberstone Height which will remain open.
He said: "Very reluctantly I have decided Western Park will close. I know that will be a disappointment to the users of that course.
"We have looked long and hard at the finances involved and we simply can't continue to subsidise two golf courses as we have in the past."
Sir Peter has suggested Western Park remains open until October to allow a final season of playing but said he would be guided by users.
He said: "It is possible that with the impending closure the usage might plummet and we will have to take a view if that happens."
Sir Peter insisted the golf course land had not been valued and said he was not aware of any approaches from interested property developers.
He said: "I have been very careful not to formulate plans in advance because I did not want to prejudge the consultation.
More than 750 people responded to the consultation on the proposal to close Western Park. Nearly two thirds of people said they were against the closure.
An earlier consultation in March saw some 2,700 people share their view on the initial threat to both courses. The vast majority of them said the council should keep subsidising both courses.
The mayor said their would now be investment in Humberstone Heights - which is subsidised to the tune of £63,000 a year.
He could not say exactly how much would be spend but said: "I am thinking of investment that would run to some hundreds of thousands of pounds. It is much more than a lick of paint.
Campaigners have said the council should allow players or a professional organisation to carry on running Western Park but Sir Peter said no credible ideas had been proposed.
Campaigners say the council refused to entertain any suggestions for golf to continue at Western Park.
Western Park club secretary Steve Sibley said: "I'm totally devastated.
"The mayor has sold off a Rolls Royce and kept a Ford Cortina.
"We have older members who get their only exercise and social contact at this club.
"You don't make new friends at that age, you just lose the old ones."
