Golf courses grapple with cannabis rules

Some just grateful they have the winter to take a swing at new policies

Calgary-area golf courses are struggling to get a grip on whether they’ll allow newly legalized greens onto their fairways.

All of those contacted by Postmedia say they ’re still in the weeds on whether they’ll give a green light to cannabis, and whether they’ll chose to apply rules similar to those for booze and tobacco consumption on their private property.

One course official said his facility is probably leaning toward giving patrons the right to toke as they sink balls.

“We have to treat it a lot like alcohol and smoking cigarettes on the golf course,” said the man, who didn’t want to give his name or identify the golf course he works for. “Golf courses are going to have to come up with policies that are the norm of society.”

Feedback on the issue is evenly split, he said, with older golfers tending to disapprove.

Local governments in Alberta have largely decided to ban the consumption of cannabis on public property, but non-municipally owned golf courses are on private land where owners can choose their own policy.

Course operators like Sirocco Golf Club general manager Tom Ellison said they’re grateful they’re closing for the season just as recreational marijuana becomes legal Oct. 17, giving them time to craft pot putting rules for next year.

“When we thought it was going to be legalized July 1 we were scrambling, but now there’s a sigh of relief,” said Ellison.

If smoking pot is ultimately allowed on their course it would likely be up to individual groups of golfers to agree upon its use among themselves, he said.

“If someone in that group isn’t in favour of it, that’s where you get some issues,” said Ellison.

The notion of selling joints from booze carts, however, is a pipe dream — for now, he said.

“We don’t sell cigarettes, though when smoking was prevalent, golf courses did,” said Ellison.

But regardless of what rules are set by courses, years of pot

prohibition have been flouted on the greens just as it has been elsewhere, he said.

“People have been smoking marijuana on golf courses forever,” said Ellison.

How local governments ultimately handle public cannabis smoking rules and what members want will impact where Country Hills Golf Club lands on the question, said general manager Brent Syme.

“The board is taking a waitand-see stance right now, gauging the feedback from the first few months,” said Syme.

“It’s kind of split right now; some people are saying ‘if it’s legalized, it’s just like alcohol.’ ”

A spokeswoman with the National Golf Course Owners Association of Canada said that, for now, the umbrella group is leaving it up to individual members to set their own cannabis regulations.

Smokeless consumption methods like edibles, vaping and beverages could see golf courses opening up more to being buzzed on the links, said some operators like Carol Oxtoby, president of Heritage Pointe Golf Club, which hasn’t set its own policy.

For now, the course just south of Calgary will seek provincial training for staff members to help them detect golfers who might overindulge on pot while it crafts regulations to deal with the soon-to-be-legal substance, said Oxtoby.

“It’s the first thing on the agenda — we need to form a policy on cannabis,” she said.