Today Tuesday January 11, 2022 the City of Toronto Infrastructure and Environment Committee will conduct a review of the operation of their 5 municipal golf courses, and the results of that review will be considered by City Council on February 2,2022.
Members of the public can apply to speak to the issues, so far Rick Young, President of the Golf Writers Association of Canada has been allocated 3 minutes and Canadian Golf Hall of Famers writer and journalist Lorne Rubenstein and Bob Weeks will also speak.
Parks, Forestry, and Recreation has seven golf courses under its operational management. Two are leased out fully, and five are operated under a mixed model where golf course assets and turf are maintained by the City, green fees are set by City Council, and golf pro shop management and food and beverage operations are contracted out under two separate agreements.
On September 30 2020, Council directed the extension of the contracts for the existing operating model, now expiring November 30, 2022, with an option to extend for a further one year to November 30, 2023. This extension allowed time for a third-party review of golf course operations to inform the sourcing strategy for an operator for the 2024 season and to assess the impact and results of increased golf play through 2020 and 2021.
Dentonia GC, Tam O'Shanter GC, Scarlett Woods GC, Humber Valley GC, Don Valley GC.
While I don't expect anything drastic from the City in their role of maintaining their 5 courses, they are clearly looking to improve their golf shop management and food and beverage operations.
The exception could be the long standing Dentonia par 3 course in Scarborough, where many east end Torontonians learned how to play may face major changes converting the golf experience to a 9 hole course with vastly improved practice facilities, and renewed use of the rest of the property for parkland.
However the truth of the matter is our city courses are mobbed with an average of 40,000- 45,000 rounds a year, many of them by members of the public for whom municipal courses are their ONLY financial option, so I would expect the city councillors will agree what we need is more courses, certainly nothing less.
The full report is here
Bryan Angus
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