EAST PROVIDENCE — For the moment at least, the Silver Spring Golf Course off Pawtucket Avenue in city has been given the green light to open why the volunteers who operate the six-hole layout and representatives from the Exxon-Mobil ownership group hash out a new lease.

The course, which usually only closes briefly in the winter due to weather, was shut down this spring. Those wishing to golf were greeted with yellow, caution tape signaling play wasn't allowed.

Lou Roccabello and Scott Peters, the president and vice president of the club, respectively, recently explained they and the legal counsel for Exxon-Mobil were at an impasse on negotiations between the sides over some key elements of the aforementioned lease agreement.

However, Roccabello said the Silver Spring board was pleasantly surprised to be told by the lawyers for the energy behemoth early Friday, May 3, that they could actually open up the course while talks continued.

Roccabello, a past president of the Rhode Island Golf Course Superintendent’s Association who has been involved with Silver Spring since 2021, said he put out the pin flags just after noontime on Friday. Within only an hour or so, play had begun.

Roccabello cautioned Silver Spring is only open pending a new operating agreement, adding, "The lease will determine the course's fate."