Clubs in Canadian capital are succumbing to poor economy, over-saturation.
Jeff Calderwood, Chief Executive Officer of the National Golf Course Owners Association in Canada, says several courses in the Canadian capital of Ottawa could close due to over-expansion and a sharp drop in the number of people taking up golf.
Six courses are currently up for sale in the National Capital Region, victims of the crushing recession that crippled much of North America between 2007 and 2010 and which followed years of growth fueled largely by baby-boomers’ insatiable appetite for the game.
CBC News says that while some golf course operators are clinging to the hope boomers will help keep them afloat, the ‘for sale’ signs outside depressed courses are beginning to attract residential developers.
Canadian-owned League Financial Partners (LFP) bought Club de Golf Tecumseh in Gatineau in 2012. Adam Gant, the company’s CEO, says he intends to downsize the course in order to build homes, adding the fairways and greens could be completely overtaken in 15 years.
Greg Chambers, general manager of Manderley on the Green in North Gower, says a marked increase in competition over the last decade or so has caused him to consider a similar route. “We used to have nobody around us within 50 kilometers,” he said. “Now we have two other courses within 15 kilometers. It’s a lot tougher, it’s definitely over-saturated.”
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