Looking Back
An Unforeseen
Impact By Jim Claggett
Wolf Creek Golf Resort’s Ryan Vold has been in the golf industry for more than four decades and has seen plenty. He accepted long ago that ups and downs are all part of the landscape. Vold said in the 80’s and 90’s there were some peaks when some years were far better than others and when the mid2000’s hit, things started sliding the other way. The economy and the weather play a role in the direction golf can go, but this past season was something else. “Golf was always a kind of nice, slow ride but this one (2020) was just a freak of nature. We saw extreme amounts (people playing golf) with some courses going 30 to 40 per cent (increase in rounds played).” He was quick to add he is not referring to total revenue as there are other elements which contribute to the bottom line like pro shop, food & beverage and tournaments, all which were flat. The situation was quite robust right out of the gate at Wolf Creek and Vold explained it was due to being prepared to host golfers right away in May. Most courses were thinking golf would start around May 15th in Alberta, but officials
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The Alberta Golfer 2021
announced people could tee it up May 4th. The Wolf was ready to pounce. “That gave us a huge start and I thought it would flatten out once other golf courses started to come on board and then it didn’t. It just kept going and then I thought, boy this is a giggle,” Vold said. Lesley McMahon, owner of Balmoral Golf Club in Red Deer is the past president of the National Golf Course Owners Association. She said it was a familiar refrain from member courses. “Most places were very happy with their green fee numbers and their rounds,” she said. “The type of golf courses that didn’t do as well, from the people I spoke to, were the private clubs.” She said members were playing more in many cases at those courses, but their fees had already been paid. “It’s not across the board that everything was up and fabulous. It kind of depended on what market you were in.” So why did many courses see such an influx in people? With other sports on hold, Vold figures people had to find options for
