Reduce, Re-use, Re-purpose!

In a way, it's the end of an era: The halfway hut here at Victoria Park East, or "Snack Shack" as it's been affectionately known for many years, has been renovated into a rain shelter. It sits in a conspicuous spot between the 9th green and the 10th tee.
When I returned to the golf business in 1993, Snack Shack version 1.0 was a simple wooden hut, designed and built as a high school construction project by one of our neighbours. Back then, it was not legal for golf courses in Ontario to run a beverage cart, so the halfway hut was a popular - and profitable - refreshment stop for golfers. The humble and fly-blown structure sold a ton of hot dogs, snacks, soft drinks and (of course) beer. But in 1996/97, the Ontario Government revamped the liquor laws to allow alcohol sales on the golf course, and so along came the Beverage Cart... with a bang!
It was such a welcome addition to the golf business: on arrival, golfers would no longer ask about the turf and greens conditions, but would first ask "is the beverage cart out today?" I'm not exaggerating. It's still the first question many golfers ask when they check in. And so, the Snack Shack took a back seat.
In 1999, alongside a major addition to the Clubhouse, a new and better Snack Shack was constructed. More power outlets, better countertops, more room for a nice fridge, a cement floor, a proper roll-up service window, etc. The push was on to bring some relevance back to "The Shack". And we got opinions, many opinions, on how to run it. One example: "You need a BBQ - sausages and dogs right off the flame, you'll sell like crazy!" So we invested in a good BBQ, put up nice signage, burned a ridiculous amount of propane... and sold very few sausages or dogs. VERY few. Did that for two years, then gave up on the BBQ and went to a regular hot dog roller. Meanwhile, the beverage cart continued to sell extremely well, so much so, that we invested in another one.
By 2010, we began to take serious notice of how little the Snack Shack was selling, versus the costs of running it. We cut back hours of operation - much to the chagrin of some of our members and guests, and a few complained quite aggressively! So we kept it going, and saw sales continue to decline. Even on very busy days, when you would assume grabbing a snack or drink at half-way would be a no-brainer, sales were very poor. The only exceptions were some large tournaments, especially those that have played here for a number years, and used expense accounts.
Now, it's done. We will still set up a temporary foodservice station there for certain events; and otherwise, ensure that we can service golfers quickly from the Clubhouse as they make the turn from hole 9 to 10.

The Trials and Tribulations of Tiger

Here's a report by Brent Axe of Syracuse.com

http://www.syracuse.com/axeman/index.ssf/2017/05/tiger_woods_had_turning_stone_elite_card_on_him_during_dui_arrest.html

Book and movie rights to follow!

It's About Time... I Guess!

After a rather extended delay, it looks like development of the old Victoria Park West lands is finally under way. This picture, taken on Thursday October 13th, is looking west from Victoria Rd., just near the entrance to the property. In the background, the bigger building was the residence and apartments, and the building on the right way the Pro Shop and Snack Bar. Since Thursday, both buildings have been demolished. The old 11th green would have been in the foreground left, and the 12th tee to the right.

Ted DeCorso sold the property to Country Green Homes in 2012, and since then a sign was up to advertise the development, but nothing was happening. I'm not privy to the details, so I'm not going to guess what prompted the delay. However, since the earthmoving started a few weeks ago, the development has been rebranded and is now called "Royal Valley at Victoria Park by Mikmada Homes".

You can probably see the confusion this is going to cause some people, who have been around long enough and were familiar with Victoria Park West up until the time it closed: the similarity in the development's new name with our newer golf course Victoria Park Valley might lead to the conclusion that they (we) are linked. A Google search for Victoria Park Valley Golf Club may very well return Royal Valley at Victoria Park as a result. Or, vice-versa.

Let me categorically state: the DeCorso family and Victoria Park Golf Club are entirely separate from, and have no stake or vested interest in, the Royal Valley at Victoria Park development. Well, maybe we'll score a few Google hits out of it!

Why Didn't We...

keep the golf course open? El Nino is certainly having an effect on our weather, as we begin the first days of winter. We officially closed our golf courses on November 18, taking advantage of some decent conditions to get the winterizing program done before the inevitable snowfall. Well, most of you know what happened: the temperature stayed mild, sometimes in the low double-digits. Of course, the phone started ringing.
But with the winterizing done, it wouldn't be wise to open the greens again. So we opened our "temporary holes" and saw a bit of action; however, most golfers want to putt on greens, and not just whack a ball around. Oh, well. If we had a better crystal ball - or, believed unconditionally in the 14-day trend from The Weather Network - then keeping the whole course open MIGHT have happened. Have a look at this current 14-day trend. Crazy!

Okay, So They're THAT Good!

Like most of you, once in a blue moon I do something on the golf course that makes love the game all over again. Like drain a putt farther than 20 feet from the hole. Or stick it to within a foot on a par 3. Or get a birdie! Have a look at these top shot from the Pros for 2015:
Top 10 PGA Tour Shots of the Year

Seinfeld on Golf

A Wake Up Call

When you're in a certain business for a long time, a sense of comfort - and an unfortunate habit of making quick assumptions - tends to set in.
In the golf business, when someone shows up at your golf course, we assume that they know about golf... otherwise why would they be here, right? Well, we recently had an event that promptly put us on our toes, and reminded us about the necessity of good, pro-active communication:
A local company decided to treat their staff to a day on the golf course. Great! We love that. We promote that, and would like to grow that market.
Our tournament co-ordinator had everything organized in terms of tee times, carts, dinner, etc. What we weren't ready for, was the number of people who had NEVER been on a golf course, had NO previous exposure to golf otherwise, and had absolutely NO IDEA about anything to do with golf.
"What hole, a hole? What's a tee? Do you rent golf balls? Can we share clubs?"
We finally got everybody sorted out, did our best with the customer to put golfers and new golfers together, and held our breath as we watched people hit a ball 3 yards at a time.
Lesson learned:

1. If it's a group new to the golf course, ask pertinent questions to the person making the booking: are there any new or non-golfers in the event?
2. If yes, can we suggest ways to make your event run more smoothly? (i.e., pick up the ball after a certain number of strokes, and proceed to putt)
3. Can we offer a 30-minute clinic to the new golfers before they tee off, to help them with the rudiments of the golf swing?
   
   Other ideas came out of this experience, but the important thing is "nipping it in the bud"... and don't assume!