Riverview Golf Club general manager Todd Read (Photo courtesy of Bob Schneider)

By Scott Roblin

Waiting on Golf

Province-wide golf closure comes as Riverview Golf Club hits upswing

Apr 15, 2020 | 5:51 PM

REDCLIFF, AB – It wasn’t too long ago that the Riverview Golf Club in Redcliff was teetering on the brink of having to close up shop due to financial strain.

A $315,000 loan from the Town of Redcliff helped keep them afloat last year, along with a better than expected season on the links.

Similar growth was expected to kick off the 2020 spring season ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that all came crashing down with news from the province that golf courses would remain closed to the public.

“We were prepared to do so if we could, but we were expecting that sort of result from the government,” said general manager Todd Read.

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Last week, chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw confirmed that golf courses would be deemed a ‘non-essential service’ and public access to the facilities would not be permitted.

Read said he understands the decision but added it doesn’t make it any less frustrating knowing the club was starting to turn a corner financially.

“It’s disappointing of course,” said Read. “We have an excellent board, we have a good management team here this year, we’re keeping our expenses as low as absolutely possible which is what you need to do. We were positioned very well to have an excellent year this year, even better than last year. But, it is what it is and we’ll deal with it.”

Riverview Golf Club was facing a debt of $400,000 in late 2018 and was at risk of shutting down permanently, but the loan from the town helped the organization stay afloat.

Their previous debt has since been paid off and began chipping away at the loan before the pandemic, which set up the club for an optimistic 2020 season.

“We’re positioned quite well, our finances are pretty good,” said Read. “We had a very good year last year and had excellent turnaround. We keep our overhead low here and that’s enabling us to move forward.”

The itch to get back on the course still remains for thousands of Albertans however, as evidenced by a recent petition to get courses in operation.

A petition launched on change.org earlier this week titled ‘Alberta golf courses should receive an exemption from mandated business closures’ has received close to 35,000 signatures as of Wednesday evening.

The argument the petition makes is that golfing is a safe way to practice physical distancing while getting outdoors.

While Read believes that to be true, he is more than comfortable following the rules in place from Alberta Health during this public health crisis.

“People that are smarter than us with respect to health concerns of this disease have made that mandate,” said read. “Is it right? Is it wrong? That’s debatable, but at the end of the day we need to address it, make sure that we’re following the rules and keep our social distancing. When we get the green light, I foresee golf courses will be one of the first things open. Once you’re out on the golf course, it’s safe.”

Read is taking the time before opening to utilize previous grant money from the provincial government, which is being used to revamp part of their clubhouse and cart storage facilities.