SATURDAY,OCTOBER19,2019 | THEGLOBEANDMAILO S5
C
anada’s top fairways could
soon be driveways.
The National Golf Club
of Canada, a male-only private
course in the Toronto suburbs,
recently drew an unsolicited
buyout offer for about $120-mil-
lion from a real estate developer.
The property is owned by its 468
members and consistently ranks
as one of the two or three best
and toughest rounds in the coun-
try, and among the world’s top 50
courses. After the 44-year-old
club closes for the winter, mem-
bers will make a decision on its
future. If they decide to sell, the
National will join a growing list of
suburban golf courses being bull-
dozed to make way for high-end
homes.
“Redevelopment of the Na-
tional would leave a scar on ev-
ery golf course in the country,”
said Rob Roxborough, the Na-
tional Golf Club’s executive direc-
tor. “If the National is vulnerable,
who isn’t?”
The debate playing out at the
limestone-clad clubhouse and ra-
vine-riven fairways of what gol-
fers call “the Nash” is part of a
larger conversation around the
relevance of golf for the next gen-
eration, particularly for affluent
players who can afford to join a
private country club. The club’s
struggle also captures what de-
mand for single family homes
and parkland is doing to public
and private courses across the
country.
The most recent statistics from
Golf Canada, the sport’s national
governing body, show 51 courses
shut down between 2015 and
2018, including 19 closings in On-
tario. In the same period, 22 new
courses were either launched or
under construction. In other
words, two clubs are closing for
every new track that opens.
“Golf has never been in a
healthier place in Canada,” in
terms of the number of players
and their engagement in the
game, said Laurence Applebaum,
chief executive officer of Golf
Canada. “But there are two sides
to the coin. Golf courses have be-
come part of the story of a robust
real estate market, particularly in
the greater Toronto region.”
There are about 2,300 golf
courses in Canada – only the
United States has more – and
none are harder to navigate than
the National in Woodbridge, Ont.
Its 18 holes feature narrow fair-
ways, ponds, streams and greens
guarded by cleverly placed bun-
kers. Pros such as Mike Weir, Nick
Faldo and Lee Trevino have sung
the National’s praises after play-
ing tournaments, legions of golf
writers have complimented the
course’s ability to humble even
the best players. But the difficulty
of the course and its prime loca-
tion are now contributing to its
uncertain future. When noted
golf architects George and Tom
Fazio designed the National,
which opened in 1974, it was well
north of Toronto’s suburbs. Over
more than four decades, the city
swallowed the club. Large homes
now surround the course, while
shopping malls, Canada’s Won-
derland amusement park and a
subway station are minutes away.
In recent years, an increasing
number of National members de-
cided to unload their stakes, in
part because aging golfers often
find the course too challenging to
play enjoyably. Not enough new
members stepped forward and
there are currently more sellers
of memberships than buyers, ac-
cording to Roxborough, who de-
clined to comment on the exact
numbers. Several sources at the
National, whom The Globe And
Mail granted confidentiality to
because they were not autho-
rized to speak for the club, said
dozens of members are currently
trying to sell their stakes, which
typically change hands for
around $40,000. Annual dues at
the club are about $12,000.
That dynamic opened the
door to an offer this summer
from a opportunistic developer.
Roxborough declined to identify
the bidder, but said when board
of directors received the offer,
National promptly hired a real
estate appraiser to value the
property. The consultant’s report
is expected by December and will
be shared with members, who
will then decide whether they
want to sell. The club’s men-only
membership policy is not a factor
in the debate over the National’s
future, according to the club’s ex-
ecutives and a number of mem-
bers. Roxborough said: “The is-
sue here is urban sprawl.”
For a sense of what may be
coming at the National, look to
what played out five years ago at
member-owned York Downs Golf
and Country Club in nearby
Markham. A developer made an
initial $325-million bid for the 27-
hole course. The club’s board opt-
ed to put the property up for auc-
tion. The club eventually sold for
$412-million, which worked out
to approximately $200,000 per
member, a decent payday for
owners who typically paid
$30,000 or less for their stakes.
Next year, builders are scheduled
to break ground on the first of
2,400 planned detached homes
and townhouses on the site.
The initial offer for the Nation-
al valued the club at approxi-
mately $250,000 a member. Real
estate experts say if a significantportion of the course can be turn-
ed into residential lots – parts of
the property are too hilly or wet
to be suitable for homes – the Na-
tional could be worth consider-
ably more than that. Using the
same value per acre that York
Downs and other urban courses
commanded, the National could
be worth roughly $200-million,
or about $400,000 a member.
Over the past year, Beacon
Hall Golf Club in Aurora, Ont., al-
so received unsolicited offers
from developers, in the $200-
million range. The club hired a
team led by an arm of Toronto-
Dominion Bank to value the
property. The appraisers report-
ed back last week by mailing a
valuation to the club’s 260 mem-
bers, who are now weighing their
options.
The Town of Oakville, Ont., is
battling to stop Glen Abbey Golf
Club from being transformed in-
to mansions by Abbey owner and
real estate developer Rai Sahi, a
fight the politicians are expected
eventually to lose. Other courses
that will soon be subdivisions in-
clude Harvest Hills in Calgary, Ka-
nata Golf and Country Club near
Ottawa and Copper Creek in
Vaughan, Ont. The future of pub-
licly owned links is also up for de-
bate. In recent years, former Van-
couver mayor Gregor Robertson
and former Toronto city planner
and candidate for mayor Jennifer
Keesmaat recommended con-
verting city-owned courses into
parkland.
John D’Angelo has a unique
perspective on the National’s fu-
ture. He’s a member of the club
and an ardent golfer, but he’s also
chief executive of HBNG Holborn
Group, the real estate company
that controls a fund which re-
cently bought a 45-hole course in
Woodbridge called The Country
Club – it was formerly known as
the Board of Trade Golf Club.“Unlike some clubs, members
at National play aggressively. It’s
not uncommon to play four or
five times a week,” D’Angelo said.
His view is this passion for golf
will underlie coming discussions
on the club’s future. D’Angelo
said most National members are
wealthy enough that a potential
windfall in the $250,000 to
$400,000 range is unlikely to
sway their decision.
However, the real estate exec-
utive said rising demand for land
in the Toronto area, and limited
supply, means deep-pocketed re-
al estate companies will keep
calling at National and other ur-
ban country clubs. “These golf
courses were built when there
were no land pressures,” D’Ange-
lo said. “Now, there is really no
product available to developers
of single-family homes.”
In the long term, the future of
golf clubs will be determined by
interest in the game. “The dy-
namics of families are changing,”
said D’Angelo, who has two chil-
dren. “Not everyone gets up
these days on Saturday morning
and wants to take off all day to
golf. There’s a younger genera-
tion with different priorities.”
Right now, roughly five mil-
lion Canadians occasionally
swing a 9-iron and 1.5 million
qualify as ardent golfers, who
play nine or more times each
year. That’s roughly 650 active
golfers for each of the country’s
courses, one of the highest ratios
of clubs to golfers in the world.
Until recently, even the most ac-
tive golfers were playing less of-ten. Seven years ago, a Canadian
study by a group called the Na-
tional Allied Golf Associations, or
NAGA, concluded the game was
“vulnerable,” as 38 per cent of
golfers were playing fewer
rounds each year, while just 14
per cent were hitting the links
more frequently. The NAGA re-
port said: “Time and money con-
strain the playing of the game,
they do not drive the game.”
Golf Canada’s Applebaum said
in recent years, golf experienced
an resurgence. The average num-
ber of rounds played each year
stabilized and has started to rise,
sparked in part by the success of
Canadian professionals such as
Brooke Henderson. The game is
also attracting an increasing
number of young players and im-
migrants to Canada. “The old cli-
ché was golf is pale, stale and
male, and that’s just not the case.
The game is inclusive,” Apple-
baum said. “If you look at faces
on the first tee on most courses,
you are likely to see the new face
of Canada.”
At the National, the drama in
coming months will be in the
boardroom, not on the 18th hole.
The members, many of whom
work in the real estate and finan-
cial industries, will decide wheth-
er one of the country’s best-
known courses keeps holding
high-stakes matches or gets con-
verted into McMansions. Roxbor-
ough, the executive director,
said: “I believe the members
want to see this club continue to
be their home for golf, but the de-
cision is theirs.”TopCanadiancoursethreatenedbyurbansprawl
Aslargehomesanda
growingcityencircle
theNational,itsowners
aredebatingwhether
toselltheland
ANDREWWILLISTORONTO
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PoliticiansinnearbyOakvillearebattlingtokeepGlenAbbeyGolfClub,above,fromtransformedintohousing.GLENNLOWSON/THEGLOBEANDMAILGOLF
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