London Golf Focus, by Jeffrey Reed

As Published by BUSINESS LONDON MAGAZINE April 2005

In 2003, Mike Olizarevitch, long-time head professional at Fanshawe Golf Club in London produced a study for the City that now proves prophetic. Olizarevitch revealed, there are enough golf courses in and around London to support a population of 1,050,000 – more than three times London’s current population of 348,000.

Operating a business which relies heavily on ideal weather conditions is tough enough. When you add intense competition to the equation, you have a business climate with more hazards than Augusta National Golf Course on Sunday afternoon at the Masters Tournament.

There’s a growing consensus amongst London and area golf courses that only the fittest will survive what has become a cut-throat industry. It’s a golfer’s market, with an oversupply of courses to choose from, and concurrently, a larger and more attractive selection of green fees and memberships.

Local golf industry insiders speak of how there are more clubs after a "piece of the pie," and how they are thinking more like "businesspeople" than golfers. Cool, wet springs have become the norm, lowering the number of rounds played, and forcing golf courses to take a financial hit at a time when costs to operate a golf course have ballooned. 

That’s not all. Reports say participation per capita may have peaked. Golf Datatech reports rounds played in the U.S. in 2004 fell 0.1 per cent. Latest numbers from the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA), Canadian golf’s governing body, indicate a decline of 5.4 per cent in all golfers from 1998 to 2001. The most avid golfers showed a drop of 12.1 per cent.

Record numbers, however, are affecting golf course operations. While the Canadian Golf Course Superintendent’s Association reports close to $400,000 as the average maintenance budget for an 18-hole golf course in Canada, a "million-dollar budget to run an 18-hole golf course is not uncommon," says London Sunningdale Golf & Country Club general manager, John Adams.

Founded in 1934, the private Sunningdale club spent $12 million between 1999 and 2003 on a complete overhaul of its 36 holes of golf, plus the construction of a new 32,000-square-foot clubhouse. Col. J. Gordon Thompson developed Sunningdale’s first 18-hole course which opened in 1934, while a second 18-hole layout opened in 1971.

Adams explains, "Improvements to our course go beyond just improvements necessary to keeping competitive. Changes are needed as a course ages. Irrigation, a new clubhouse – a golf course gets tired over the years."

However, beefing up its amenities hasn’t hurt Sunningdale’s local presence. The club boasts 1,700 individual members, none of whom paid for recent club changes. "It was an expense to the (Thompson family) ownership," Adams explains. He says basic annual membership dues total $4,500 per couple, or $1,300 per couple plus discounted green fees for those who expect to play fewer rounds.

According to Adams, "London golfers are spoiled. Are there too many courses? That’s an interesting question. There are so many different kinds of golfers. I think there’s still room for growth. Look at the housing market. We have golfers show up at our door, they’ve moved from Toronto and want to join our club."

Leo Larizza, general manager at the private Highland Country Club, calls the London market "tough" and "competitive." The former owner of La Casa restaurant in downtown London hints that only the fittest will survive in London’s golf market. He says, "Eventually the clubs doing a better job can count on membership. Highland is unique to London because of its (central) location, and because it is active 12 months a year."

If Highland has an advantage over its private-club competition, Larizza says it’s "the friendliness of the members and staff. He says, "The facility is important, but people make the difference."

Highland counts 600 golfing members plus 400 curling members. Initiation fees total $12,000, with all-inclusive annual dues at $2,400, and $1,500 for a member’s spouse. The private club resting on 140 urban acres was founded at a farmhouse in 1922. Expansion in 1959 saw a new clubhouse and six-sheet curling arena added. There was a $750,000 renovation project in 1985.

Currently, a $1.5-million clubhouse upgrade, plus halfway house addition follow a recent $1.4-million course upgrade which included the addition of fairway bunkers, a new irrigation system, plus the lengthening of tees to challenge today’s golfers benefitting from game-improvement clubs and balls.

Private golf clubs like Sunningdale and Highland take pride in longevity within a community. London Hunt & Country Club, the city’s most guarded and storied golf club, was founded in 1885. It hosted the PGA Tour’s 1970 Canadian Open, and LPGA Tour’s 1993 du Maurier Ltd. Classic.

London Hunt boasts 1,800 members. New applicants must be proposed by a member, and then must be seconded by a member, according to club general manager, Larry McKenzie. He says, "Every year, we have attrition. But, there is very low turnaround, perhaps less than 10 members each year."

In 1999 and 2000, the club spent about $2 million tweaking its classic design, including bunker changes, to bring it up to par to modern standards. Like Highland, London Hunt had fallen victim to "modern technology and improved distance," says McKenzie.

While London Hunt appears immune to market conditions, McKenzie is an astute observer of the local scene. He says, "Golf is a local industry now."

And for that reason, according to Walter Spivak, owner of the private Oaks Golf & Country Club in Delaware, and the new FireRock upscale public course in Komoka, the clubs who "do not do well" in maintaining and upgrading their amenities will not be profitable.

Like Highland, The Oaks depends on "young demographics" for its membership of 350 golfers, according to Spivak. There’s an initiation fee of $12,000, plus basic annual dues of $2,700, and $1,100 for a member’s spouse.

The Oaks was established in 1993 by Spivak and his father, Nick, because of an under-supply of private clubs in the London area, according to Walter Spivak. However, he admits, "We’re all looking for members." But he doesn’t believe there are too many private clubs. "We’re all holding our own. If you offer a good product, reasonable prices, you’ll do well," he adds.

Oaks members have playing privileges at FireRock, which joins Forest City National as the London area’s second upscale public course. Opened in July 2004, a new clubhouse opens this May. Golfers across Canada have been abuzz about the Thomas McBroom-designed FireRock, which the architect calls "explosive by nature and stunning by design."

Walter Spivak has been aggressive in marketing his new course, which charges $80 green fees including range balls, cart and a yardage guide. A limited number of season’s memberships are available at $3,500. And, a foursome can book an annual weekly tee time for $6,000.

Custom playing packages like FireRock’s are a sign of the times, says Brian Holmes, director of operations at Forest City National. "Ten years ago, specials didn’t exist," says Holmes, who echoes McKenzie’s thoughts by stating, "Golf in London is a business now."

Forest City, boosting its bottom line by hosting 70 charity tournaments this season, has only 15 members and thus relies on daily green fees and a variety of 18-hole packages, including six rounds for $269. Host of high-profile events like the 1994 and 1995 Ontario Open tournaments, and 1998 CPGA Championship, Forest City relies on outstanding amenities in order to challenge competing courses – not an easy job, says Holmes.

"The local golf industry is no different than the automotive industry of 20 years ago, when rebates appeared. The number of courses (42 within a half-hour of London’s city hall, 112 across southwestern Ontario) affects the entire London market. It slices up the pie," says Holmes.

Although Holmes recognizes that FireRock and Forest City are "two very different types of courses," he does point to FireRock and RiverBend Country Club – the two latest additions to London’s golf scene – as big reasons why pieces of the pie are now smaller.

London’s first gated golf community, RiverBend is part of a master-planned community which eventually will include 500 villas and single-family homes. The golf course was a $5-million project for developer Sifton Properties Ltd., and the 28,000-square-foot clubhouse cost $4 million. Resting in northwest London and overlooking London Hunt, RiverBend allows residents to park their golf carts at home, and ride them to and from the course.

RiverBend has been highly visible in national advertising. Through 2004, 100 homes were occupied, with 175 residents expected by December 2005, according to new company president Richard Sifton. He says there are 275 golf club members – half of them residents – with a target membership cap of 450.

Sifton says RiverBend memberships are sold to non-residents for $6,500, with a $500 refund each year, since eventually all 450 memberships will be filled by RiverBend Golf Community residents. He agrees that a golf course can act as a magnet when marketing homes. "We’re selling a lifestyle," says Sifton, "but 75 per cent of our purchasers are golfers."

Like Adams, Sifton says you have to define a golf course type before determining whether or not there is an over supply in London. "Private courses are fighting for people," he says. "Overall, there is an abundance of opportunities to play golf in London." 

Sal Bruni, general manager at West Haven Golf & Country Club, tees up a hard-hitting assessment of the local golf market. "It’s over saturated," says Bruni. "RiverBend and FireRock will affect everyone for the next three to four years. The pie just got divided."

West Haven, opened in 1990, is the area’s only course with equity shareholders – 350 in total, forking out $10,000 each, plus annual dues of $2,600. Advertising a "young, more casual" membership, according to Bruni, West Haven is also tinkering with its course and clubhouse in order to offer top-notch amenities, and "keep competitive with the Sunningdales of the world."

"It’s tough for any new course," says Bruni. "I wouldn’t want to build one unless I had deep pockets. But golfers want to play what’s new. In 1990, we were the new kids on the block."

Greenhills Golf Club in Lambeth has new ownership with deep pockets in ClubLink Corporation, Canada’s largest owner and operator of high-end golf clubs. In 1999, the golf syndicate purchased the club, built in 1975, from the Sonar Group. Six years ago, Greenhills had a membership of 350. Today, more than 400 of ClubLink’s 12,000 members call Greenhills their home course.

ClubLink has a series of membership fees and annual dues. At Greenhills, a principal entry fee costs $5,000, and permits play at 26 ClubLink clubs. Greenhills director of golf, Brad Esler, says the club would like to boost its membership to 550. He says of the local market, "There are too many public courses. Even the private clubs are fighting for a piece of the pie."

Greenhills continues to improve its amenities, by sprucing up its entrance and parking lot. Likewise, when the Ublansky family purchased Echo Valley Golf Club west of Lambeth for $2 million in 2001, they were well aware that today’s golfer demands more bang for the buck.

Established in 1971 and considered one of Ontario’s most challenging semi-private courses, Echo Valley boasts 175 members. Even daily green fee golfers are demanding better amenities, according to owner Brian Ublansky.


"Golfers are getting smarter. It used to be, they wanted a beer and a round of golf. Not anymore. Whether they pay $10 or $100, they want more value for their money. A farmer used to be able to cut a field and create a golf course. Not anymore."

Ublansky has spent well over $1 million in course upgrades with designs from renowned Strathroy-based golf course architect Rene Muylaert. New tees and traps, rebuilt greens, reshaped holes on the hilly terrain and a new irrigation system, plus paving of parking and cart paths have brought the club up to speed.

"We’ve redone 14 of 18 holes," says Ublansky. "We wanted a private club feeling. The London market is competitive, and at the saturation point." For that reason, Ublansky is holding off on his plans to add another nine holes on adjacent land.

Out-of-town courses recognize that London holds the unofficial title, "Golf Capital of North America," thanks to its per capita participation rate, and they, too, want a piece of the pie. In Strathroy, two semi-private clubs, Bear Creek Golf Club, and the new Caradoc Sands Golf Club, have teamed up to offer a joint green fee package.

Says Bear Creek owner and head professional, Hugh Getliffe, "We’re trying to attract more golfers from London." Caradoc Sands general manager Denton Hackney concurs with Getliffe. "We’re just 15 minutes from London, and we’re new. Golfers want to play new courses."

At the private St. Thomas Golf & Country Club, established in 1899, club manager Karen Gilles says she is "absolutely pursuing Londoners" to join the club’s existing membership of 500. She says a "short commute," improved top-notch amenities, plus "reasonable membership rates" are attractive to London golfers.

Golf is a life-long passion for tens of thousands of Londoners. But make no mistake about it: golf is also a multi-million-dollar local industry, as much about dollars and cents as it is about birdies and eagles.