Olympic Game: Vancouver faces a pivotal decision regarding its six municipal golf courses. With golf’s increasing popularity, a recent park board report advocates for a ten-year plan to maintain and even enhance these courses, which have proven to be lucrative assets in recent times. The proposed golf services plan aims to uphold current levels of golf services and ensure that the courses retain their exclusive park designation.
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However, amid a pressing housing crisis, opinions diverge on whether golf courses represent the best use of approximately two square kilometers of public land in Vancouver. Some, like former city urban designer Scot Hein, propose repurposing parts of Langara Golf Course for middle-class housing. The idea suggests utilizing the underutilized edges of the 120-acre course for non-market housing, potentially accommodating 6,500 people on publicly-owned land.
Vancouver currently operates six courses, including full-sized options like Fraserview, McCleery, and Langara, alongside pitch and putt courses like Stanley, Queen Elizabeth, and Rupert Parks. Discussions about downsizing Langara to accommodate other public recreation or housing have surfaced over the years, with some elected officials, including former mayor Gregor Robertson, entertaining the notion of the Olympic Game.
Based on a 2019 report by the park board staff, golf participation at the three major courses had decreased by 31 percent since the late 1990s, despite a population growth of over 20 percent in Vancouver during the same period.
Olympic Game: The Resurgence of Golf Amidst Surging Participation and Revenue
However, the latest report indicates a resurgence in golf participation during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the number of rounds played remained steady between 2016 and 2019, it surged by 30 percent in 2021-22. Correspondingly, gross revenues saw a notable increase of 40 percent. In 2022, golf emerged as the top revenue-generating activity for the park board, amassing $14 million in gross revenues.
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The staff report states, that Vancouver’s municipal golf trends were relatively stable until the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic significantly boosted both usage and revenue generation in 2021 and 2022. In response to these developments, the park board previously tasked staff with exploring additional revenue-generating opportunities at the courses, including the possibility of raising golf fees or leasing out clubhouses to food and event operators.
While recognizing the uncertainty surrounding the future trajectory of golf course usage, the report recommends. The park board endorsed this framework for the golf services plan and resumed capital and maintenance improvement projects drawing from the capital reserve fund for golf course enhancements.
As per the staff report Olympic Game, the necessary upgrades involve dredging the ponds at the McCleery course and improving the food and beverage services at the clubhouses. More substantial enhancements entail revamping the Fraser View driving range and replacing the water systems. While Langara utilizes non-potable water, McCleery and Fraser’s views predominantly rely on potable water for irrigation.
Paris Olympic: Challenges Surrounding Langara Golf Course Development
Chairman of the Park Board, Tom Digby, could not be reached for comment. However, in a recent interview with Global, Digby emphasized the significance of preserving the Langara course due to its diverse ponds, vegetation, and woodlands. They are significant assets, serving as migratory paths for birds. We can establish pollinator corridors, and maintain ponds, forests, and trees. Having golf courses within our city is extremely valuable, making it unsuitable for housing development, he stated.
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The staff report highlights that as a controlled-entry activity within the park board’s recreation system, golf inherently favors those with the means to afford it. Consequently, golfing activities continue to impede Indigenous access to areas designated for other uses in the Olympic Game. The staff report indicates that the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations will be consulted.
With an anticipated population increase of approximately 260,000 people in Vancouver by 2050, the exploration of underutilized areas of the Langara course for housing by the park board could offer support, according to Hein. On the southern side of 49th Avenue, Hein suggested that the Langara golf course lands have the potential to accommodate 1,000 units of market housing, accommodating a population of 2,500 residents.
Sami Valimaki’s Triumph at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters
Finland’s Sami Valimaki secured his first-ever Commercial Bank Qatar Masters title by defeating Jorge Campillo in a gripping play-off at the Doha Golf Club. After an intense battle on the final day, Valimaki and third-round leader Campillo concluded the round tied at 18 under overall, leading to the thrilling play-off. Valimaki, who had previously triumphed at the Oman Open in Olympic Game 2020, displayed remarkable composure.
He required just one hole in the play-off to clinch the prestigious ‘Mother of Pearl’ trophy for the second time in his career. Overwhelmed with emotion, Valimaki expressed, Unbelievable. It’s hard to talk. It’s been a long journey and it feels great. I’ve worked so hard and I feel like I’ve earned it a couple of times but it hasn’t come my way. That’s why it feels so amazing.
Campillo, the 2020 Qatar Masters winner, maintained his lead throughout the day until Valimaki’s late resurgence, securing a vital seven-foot birdie on the 17th hole to seize the advantage. Reflecting on the closely contested match, Valimaki acknowledged, It was quite tight today, I feel like I played nicely but still, there were a couple of mistakes and you always get punished. Course set up and everything was brilliant but yes a birdie on the 17th.
I thought I had at 15 and 16 to make those putts but luckily on the 17th, I did. Despite Campillo’s birdie on the par-five 18th to finish the final round at 2 under, Valimaki’s 3-under performance forced the play-off. While Campillo managed only a par on the first playoff hole, Valimaki remained composed, securing victory with a nerveless birdie putt.
Olympic Game: Highlights from the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Event
Commercial Bank’s Board Member Abdul Rahman bin Hamad Al Attiyah and Commercial Bank Group CEO Joseph Abraham presented the Mother of Pearl trophy to Sami Valimaki. On the tournament’s final day, Scotland’s Scott Jamieson finished strongly, sharing the third spot with Spain’s Nacho Elvira, both concluding with a 69 in the fourth round to end the event at 16 under for the Olympic Game.
Jamieson’s impressive finish propelled him from 119th to 82nd in the Dubai Rankings, securing his DP World Tour card for the upcoming season. I’m delighted said Jamieson, reflecting on his performance. Not the best situation starting the week. I’d spent the whole year on the right side of the line, and then as each week went on, I kept missing the cuts by a shot. Then all of a sudden this week, it’s a very different Olympic Game. I’ve got to have a result.
I knew in my mind it was top-20 minimum, or it wouldn’t be good enough. It’s just amazing what a better mindset can do. Sami Valimaki received the winner’s cheque of $637,500 from Commercial Bank’s Board Member Abdul Rahman bin Hamad Al Attiyah, Commercial Bank Group CEO Joseph Abraham, and QGA President Hassan Al Naimi. England’s Jordan Smith secured the fifth place at 15 under, while Joshua Grenville-Wood, Robert MacIntyre, and Santiago Tarrio shared the sixth place at 14 under.
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