BC’s Golf Boom

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I stumbled across a web link to a story I did for BC Business magazine earlier this summer. BC is interesting as far its comparison to the rest of Canada in golf development. While Ontario slows dramatically, BC is booming. Thomas McBroom has a number of courses in development in the province, as does Graham Cooke. Doug Carrick recently agreed to rebuild the final nine at Predator Ridge and add an additional nine. Designs by Fred Couples, Gary Player and Jason Straka are all due to open soon, to say nothing about Richard Zokol’s Sagebrush and a rumored design by Mike Weir.

Anyway, my story was talking about this boom and when enough is enough. In my experience that usually comes when there are four courses too many to support the demand.

Here’s a taste:

Jack Nicklaus may be a legendary sports figure, but on a crisp, clear day in Ucluelet, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, the man some consider the greatest golfer in the history of the game is not trying to find the fairway or put one in the back of the cup. As the waves pound the rocky shoreline below, Nicklaus is helping sell real estate. It isnt what youd expect from a man who won 73 Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour events, including 18 of golfs major championships, over a career that spanned more than four decades. His competitive playing days are behind him, and Nicklaus is probably now best known as a designer of golf courses, having created more than 300 of them all over the world. That reputation comes at a cost: he wont design your course for less than $1 million.

The full story is here.