Public golf has run its course in Calgary

It was a sad day for many Calgary roller-skating enthusiasts when the iconic Lloyd’s Recreation shut its doors for good earlier this year, leaving the city without a roller rink.

If there is indeed a demand for such an activity, there’s now an opportunity for the private sector to cater to that demand. Ultimately, though, the market will decide. No one was suggesting that the city take over Lloyd’s and no one has proposed that the city build and operate roller rinks.

At least when it comes to roller-skating, one could argue that absent a public option, no option exists. The same is not true for those who enjoy golf as a recreational activity, however. There are numerous private golf courses in the Calgary area.

So why does the City of Calgary continue to cling to the belief it must subsidize public golf courses at a loss to offer what is already being offered by the private sector? At a time when the city is facing a serious revenue crunch and entertaining the idea of some rather expensive and extravagant initiatives, it seems like an ideal time to reconsider this approach.

A report was presented to a city council committee last week that proposed various ways by which the city’s money-losing golf courses could be in the black by 2022. Councillors Sean Chu and Joe Magliocca voted against the report, instead advocating that the city get out of the golf business.

As Magliocca noted, not only is the city losing money on operating these courses, but the city is leaving additional money on the table, too. City-owned golf courses pay no property tax, whereas a privately owned golf course could pay upwards of a quarter of a million dollars annually. Moreover, it begs the question of why the city should be undercutting and making life more difficult for these private businesses — especially when it comes at a cost to the city.

As the Canadian Taxpayers Federation revealed earlier this year, Calgary’s six golf courses lost a combined $2 million between 2015 and 2017. McCall Lake led the way with annual losses of $457,350, $666,162 and $589,336 in that period. That’s not including the more than $6 million that has been spent on renovations to the course

Only one of the city’s courses, Shaganappi Point, was profitable.

Even if city council isn’t quite ready to throw in the towel on the golf business, what makes us think that we currently have the ideal number of public golf courses? Why not sell off or privatize — or even lease out — two or three of the biggest money-losers and at least mitigate part of the problem?

Toronto has leased out two of its public golf courses to private operators, so there’s no reason Calgary couldn’t do the same with some of ours. Unfortunately, in preparing this report, city administration didn’t even investigate whether contracting out golf course operations would be feasible.

And if the city is going to be stuck with these courses for the foreseeable future, then a more efficient approach to running them is imperative. That may mean fewer employees. That may also mean raising fees. There would undoubtedly be anger over such changes, but they are necessary.

One of the arguments in favour of public golf courses is that it makes the activity more accessible. For a lot of families, though, even those subsidized fees are a luxury. Frankly, there are a lot of activities that might be, to varying degrees, out of reach for many families. What makes golf so special?

This report is set to go to city council tomorrow, although it’s possible that council might be distracted by other matters by then. Hopefully, though, council will see that enough red ink has been spilled on this. It’s time to get out of the golf business — or at least start moving in that direction.

There would undoubtedly be anger over such changes, but they are necessary.