Local golf course heavily impacted by forced closure

Written By Paula Brown

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

When early warm weather arrived at the beginning of spring the Shelburne Golf & Country Club was filled with golfers. Now, six weeks into a stay-at-home order, the greens, driving range, fairways, and parking lot remain empty. 

“It's just very frustrating,” says Sam Young, owner and head professional at the local 18-hole family-run golf course. 

Premier Doug Ford announced on May 13, that the government would be extending the province wide stay-at-home order, which has been in effect since April 8, an additional two weeks. The extension of the order means that golf courses, will remain closed until at least June 2. 

Ontario is the only jurisdiction in North America to ban golf, during the pandemic and no cases of COVID-19 have been linked to golfing. 

“I think it's ill conceived, and not very well thought out. He has doctors, almost all of the ones I hear are telling him and us that outdoor activities are a must,” says Young. “We opened last year with all of our restrictions and we never had a problem at all, neither did any other golf courses.” 

The decision to extend the order was a blow to golf course owners and golfers alike, but Ford's comments, in which he said part of his reason for keeping courses closed was based on his knowledge of friends not following the rules, was another. 

“They pick up another buddy, two or three go out, go golfing, there's nothing wrong with golfing,” said Ford. “The problem is, then after golf they go back, they have some pops. That's the problem.” 

Addressing Ford's comments, Young said he will never live it down in the golf community. 

“That's just not accurate, as far as we're concerned here and I've been in the business for 60 years, I've never see anything like he's talking about.” 

Shelburne Golf & Country Club like the more than 800 golf courses across Ontario, are facing the financial implications brought on by the forced closure. While there are no golfer's to play a round, daily operations such as cutting the grass and maintaining the course still need to be done. Over the season, they see around 30,000 rounds of golf, with the ban they've lost between 7,000 and 10,000. 

“We're losing $1,000s every day,” says Young. 

Megan Gupta-Young, is the general manager of Shelburne Golf & Country Club and says through the cancellation of events and weddings they've lost well over $100,000. But, it is not just them who are feeling the hardships from the golfing closure, she adds. The local golf course has been a big location for a number of fundraising efforts by organizations and non-profits over the years. 

“People don't realize just how much fundraising is done through golf, it's very significant. We're supposed to have a tournament coming up in June, which the money raised is going to help pay for the Splash Pad. There's a very significant impact when golf courses are closed,” said Gupta-Young.

Shelburne Golf & Country Club also hire a number of student employees for the season, but have reduced their staff to less than five.

“We employ a lot of people, a lot of students, and this is going to directly affect them making money for the fall and going back to school,” said Young. 

Alongside the financial impacts of being closed, Young has had to postpone his adult and junior training programs. Having been in the industry for over 60 years, Young is known for his prestigious junior training program, becoming a four time Hall of Fame teacher. Young received the Ontario PGA Teacher of the Year Award for Junior Golfers in 2002 and 2003, was awarded the Ontario Golf Coaching Award in recognition of outstanding leadership in junior golf development in 2011 and was inducted into the Ontario Hall of Fame as one of “Canada's most revered teachers” that same year. 

“I've got 90 kids sitting on the bench right now, a group of 10 three to five-year-olds on Sundays and about 25 adults that have already paid for the programs,” said Young.

Despite the implications their seeing, Young is sure of one thing.

“We will be back to semi normal on June the third, I'll tell you that,” he remarked.