The Mississippi government has already helped out the Biloxi casinos, which have been one of the driving forces behind the economic recovery of the Mississippi Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.

Now, it needs to do the same for the golf courses.

Shell Landing, one of the top courses in the Biloxi area, is in financial difficulty. The course is in default with its mortgage lender and foreclosure proceedings have begun.

The club’s lawyer has filed for a “disaster forebearance act,” aimed at businesses in foreclosure that have lost at least 15 percent of sales due to a natural or man-made disaster. Club owners told the Mississippi Press newspaper they have lost 40 percent of their business, mostly due to the lack of normal tourist/golfers who flock to the area.

Actually, I’m surprised more clubs aren’t in arrears in Biloxi. Every course I played there on a recent visit told me business was way down. Some are operating on a shoestring budget just to stay afloat.

Golf courses were one of the first businesses to open after the storm. If they can’t make it, a huge source of revenue will be lost, and the recovery will be bogged down even further.

There are no plans to close the course.

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