Scott Radley: Golf shutdown hitting City of Hamilton in the wallet

You might've heard something in recent days about golfers being upset with the provincial government.

Yes, that's sarcasm. You'd have to have been in a coma not to have heard it. There hasn't been this much yelling and screaming about the game since Joe Flaherty was hired by Shooter McGavin to taunt Happy Gilmore.

Golfers are furious. Course owners are furious. #GolfIsSafe is trending on Twitter. Even people who might've previously dismissed golf as an elitist pastime are now arguing on behalf of those who play. Truly, we've entered some strange days.

All this is in response to the province's refusal to allow courses to open during the pandemic; Part of the stay-at-home order. Whether you oppose the decision or whether you support it, if you're a taxpayer in Hamilton you should be paying attention. Because this is costing the city money.

Oh, for sure," says Ward 2 councillor Jason Farr. We're losing a ton and we had our best year in decades last year."

Hamilton owns three municipal golf courses. In the west end of town, there's Beddoe and Martin at the Chedoke course, and in the east end, there's King's Forest.

Last summer was amazing for all three courses. After being locked up in their homes all winter people were basically sprinting to the fairways once they got the go-ahead to get outside. As a result, numbers skyrocketed.

In the first two weeks of the 2020 season - beginning May 20, about a month later than usual - the city says 4,206 rounds were played at the two Chedoke courses (up from 2,376 the year before) and 2,155 were played at King's Forest (up from 1,721 in 2019).

That surge continued through the season. Things went so well the courses made a $530,000 profit.

A real solid chunk of change," Farr says.

This year was setting up to be good, too. Maybe even better since Chedoke opened on April 8, more than a month before it did in 2020 and King's Forest was scheduled to open April 20.

Of course, three days before that, the golf prohibition was put in place. Chedoke shut down and King's Forest never opened.

So what does this mean to the bottom line?

We don't have real numbers available yet. But for the sake of argument, let's assume that if they'd been allowed onto the courses between now and June 2 when the lockout is scheduled to lift, golfers would've played at the same rate as they did early last year. And while greens fees vary in price depending on course, time, a player's age and a variety of other things, let's charge each golfer the lowest 18-hole fee at each place.

Under those conditions, the city will be out about $300,000 by the time courses open.

Then you add lost revenue from cart rentals and food and drink sales and the number goes up. And we haven't included any of the dollars that would've been generated in the weeks prior to now while the courses would've been open despite the weather often being questionable.

And you still have to cut the grass," Ward 12 councillor Lloyd Ferguson says.

That's right, there are expenses. City staff say because of the ban, the start dates for seasonal employees have been delayed, which will save some money. Some pro shop and food-and-beverage staff have been paused" as well. Plus, less maintenance has been required on the turf, which will also help, though that will need to pick up as the weather continues to improve.

Put it all together it's entirely reasonable to be looking at a half-million-dollar loss. Quite possibly more. All the gains from last year, gone. This is lost money in a city that's perpetually strapped for cash. Money that will have to be found somewhere.

Thankfully it appears it won't show up on your tax bill next year.

The city will likely ask the province for a grant from the COVID recovery fund first. If that doesn't land, it'll turn to its own reserve funds. They were replenished last year thanks to cash from the province that turned an expected deficit into a surprise budget surplus.

Still, it's hardly ideal to have to dip into those safety nets already.

Reserves are rainy day funds," Farr says. You don't want them depleted if you don't have to."

Scott Radley is a Hamilton-based columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sradley@thespec.com