Inclusive Spaces and Community Hubs Municipal golf courses in cities throughout North America are welcoming and inclusive places. Recreational golf, often played at munis, continues to grow post-pandemic. According to Golf Canada’s 2024 annual report released this past March, nearly six million Canadians teed it up last year. Munis are just as essential to the golf industry and city-building as music venues are to the cultural, social and economic well-being of our urban cores. Victoria Golf Club, which opened in 1907 and is actually in Edmonton, Alberta is our oldest muni. Not far behind is Lakeview Golf Club in Mississauga, which opened in its current location in 1907 and has hosted two Canadian Opens. In recent years, some cities that own and operate golf courses have considered selling them to reduce deficits and make room for more housing or parkland. Luckily, grassroots advocates to keep these munis have prevented many sales and that’s really good news for these cities and for the sport. The City of Burlington planned to reduce its 18-hole muni (Tyandaga Golf Course) to nine holes, but they took the issue to the community and, after evaluating all of the responses, the decision was made to keep the current green space as it is. And, in another win for munis this past October, the City of Vancouver’s parks board backed a 10-year plan to invest in its six city-run courses – rejecting a call to repurpose them. Much of golf’s growth and participation increase post-COVID is among new, or second-generation Canadians who are discovering the joys of the game for the first time. Were it not for municipal courses such as Victoria Golf Club and Dentonia Park that are accessible and affordable, these new golfers might never have picked up a club. Programs such as First Tee – Canada (a youth development program that offers programming at golf courses, schools and community centres) and Youth on Course, which allows those 18 and younger to play at thousands of courses for $5 are making the game even more accessible. More than 83 per cent of First Tee – Canada locations serve low-socioeconomic neighbourhoods. Golf Canada has also partnered with more than 34 municipalities from coast to coast in such major urban centres as Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax to help these cities offer the programs. Munis are vital to the growth of the game, both now and in the future. Hopefully, this ode has convinced you to reconsider where you book your next tee time this season and tee it up occasionally at one of the public courses in your community. Golf Detonia Park Humber Valley Don Valley Scarlett Woods CSANews | SPRING 2025 | 41
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