ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Caddyshack, the Murray brothers’ restaurant in World Golf Village, is closing its doors after 25 years.
One of the brothers, Andy Murray, made the announcement on Saturday in a Facebook post.
“We’d like to thank you all for your love and support,” the post read. “We’ve had 25 wonderful years here at the World Golf Village, but it is now time to slip away. Come on by today, have a drink, and say goodbye. Tonight we’ll have the music of Mike K. and hopefully a lot of friends.”
The restaurant, known for its burgers, charity golf tournaments and ode to Bill Murray’s 1980s film Caddyshack, holds over two decades of memories.
Alex Lopez and his son, David Lopez, say they’ve been dining at Caddyshack for more than 20 years.
“We love the movie Caddyshack, that’s the reason we started coming,” Alex Lopez said. “Sad to see it go.”
The father-son duo is not the only one who’ve been coming to Caddyshack from the start.
“[Andy’s] been such a great proprietor, really putting his whole effort into this during the hardest times, survived COVID,” said Mark Fallon, a Caddyshack regular and friend of the owner. “They were able to really stick it out and be a pillar of our community.”
Fallon says he was at Caddyshack the day the restaurant opened, and that he’s grown close to Andy over the years, which is why he didn’t show up Saturday empty-handed.
“Just a little small token of our appreciation for being so wonderful to this community for 25 years,” Fallon said. “We really appreciate everything they’ve done.”
Caddyshack’s closing comes just a few years after The World Golf Hall of Fame left the area, and the IMAX Theater closed. It also comes amidst an ongoing lawsuit over the surrounding property and any future development.
Action News Jax first told you last February about a lawsuit filed by The World Golf Foundation against IT Land over its authority regarding the current land-use restriction. The foundation argues that the original 50-year agreement, implemented in 1996, is preventing the area from being marketable.
While that battle continues to play out in court, Fallon says he’ll keep reminiscing about all the memories made over the years.
“Caddyshack stands for family; Caddyshack stands for just having a great time with the best of friends,” Fallon said. “Not just from the root of it, which is the Murray Brothers family, but the families that they’ve served for so long, most importantly to me, my own, and our extended group of friends, so we all want to wish him well.”
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