Down three shots and on the final hole, in order to force a playoff, all you have to do is hole out a 270-yard shot from a downhill lie and into a 2o-MPH wind.

Or you are down seven points, facing a 4-and-10 on your own 1-yard line with one second remaining in the contest. Your only hope is connecting on a Hail Mary.

Whatever sports analogy one wants to use to describe the situation at the Richmond Pines Country Club, the message is clear, the odds are not very good. If some of the club’s members and others from the community had their way, First Fidelity would foreclose on the property right now and put it up for auction.

However, the rest are still hoping for that double-eagle or long bomb to stay alive in the fight.

A fraction of the current members and a handful from the surrounding neighborhoods attended to hear about the direction of the club during Monday’s meeting.

When the gathering adjourned after 90 minutes, the impression I was left with, was the club was like Bruce Willis’ character in The Sixth Sense, dead, but no one told the rest of the members yet.

The club is nearly $34,000 behind currently and its debt will only continue to grow as the days go by, especially with an interest payment due to First Fidelity next week. And to top it off, RPCC has yet to bill its members for the August fees.

Everyone readily admits the course is not in the playing shape they would like it to be, but that is because of not being able to hire employees to properly maintain the greens and fairways. Which is a problem with temperatures soaring into the 90s and above, because no one is able to water the greens causing them to slowly be destroyed by the sun.

And that was a concern for former members in attendance looking at possibly returning, the condition of the course. They question why they should pay the $75 monthly membership fee when the course needs some work. Members counter they are unable to pay for the upkeep because there aren’t enough members.

A simple Catch-22.

The club can’t become attractive to new members because it doesn’t have enough capital to pay the monthly obligations as well as improvements, while prospective members don’t see spending their money on a facility which is not worth becoming a member of at this time.

The final nail into RPCC’s coffin has not been driven home yet, the club can’t officially close because the 1,000-plus stockholders have to make that decision. Nor are they really open because the club doesn’t have anyone on staff to maintain the buildings or grounds.

Another Catch-22.

Will it become a chicken farm? A trailer park community? Remain a golf course? Who knows.

The immediate future of RPCC appears to be set with its the long-term prospects depending on the person or persons willing to step forward and purchase the club.

Contact Sports editor Shawn Stinson at 997-3111, ext. 14 or sstinson@heartlandpublications.com