Oakdale a ‘ bargain’ at $ 125,000

Steep initiation fees are just one of the things that distinguish Toronto’s Oakdale Golf and Country Club, founded in 1926 by members of the city’s Jewish community.

The one-time fee of $125,000 makes Oakdale one of the most expensive golf club memberships in Canada.

Still, general manager Herb Pirk describes the cost as a “bargain” because it is a family membership that is available to future generations.

“It’s a very cost-effective way for a family … to have its golfing life, its social life continue for generations,” Mr. Pirk says.

Club president Ron Roth, a Toronto management consultant, has been a member for coming up on half a century.

“ I’ve been fortunate to be a member since I was 13 years old which was 42 years ago,” says Mr. Roth, who began playing at Oakdale after his parents joined.

In that time, Mr. Roth says the club hasn’t really changed.

“It’s still the same wonderful family atmosphere and friendship abounds. It’s a very special place,” he says.

Oakdale’s current membership is 1,749. Of that number, approximately 1,200 are golfing members, a combination of families and singles. While the majority of the membership is Jewish, Mr. Roth notes “ we have some non-Jewish members.”

There is no waiting list to join Oakdale, though Mr. Pirk remarks that neither is the club short of members. “ We can replace our attrition with new members on a yearly basis,” he says.

Of course, it’s not possible to ride solely on the coattails of ancestors’ deep pockets.

On top of the initiation fee, there are annual dues of about $8,300 for a husband and wife, plus other charges, for example, food and beverage, and additional fees for children of between $250 and $500 depending on their age, Mr. Pirk says.

Price point notwithstanding, Ron Roth has been a member of the Oakdale Golf and Country Club since his teens. the fact that Oakdale has three nine-hole golf courses also sets it apart.

In the club’s early years, its founding members hired Stanley Thompson, one of Canada’s most revered golf-course architects, to design two stand-alone nine-hole courses. In the 1950s, a third nine-hole course was added, plus a driving range.

“ When you have three nines, you have three different courses,” Mr. Pirk says, adding that each is on par with the others. “It allows for more flexibility in terms of play and tournaments and a greater number of members.”

Oakdale goes to pains to bill itself as a family club. But the fee structure isn’t the only place where that mandate comes through.

Unlike other top golf clubs, Mr. Pirk says, “We’re totally gender neutral. Where other clubs have a restricted membership for the wife, where they can’t tee [ off ] on Saturday or Sunday morning, we don’t look at gender as a barrier. The men and women pay the same fees and have the same unrestricted access to the golf course.”

If Oakdale has “golf widows,” he laughs, “it’s by their own choice.”

Besides its 27 holes, the club also has practice facilities for long game, short game and putting, six clay tennis courts, an outdoor pool and clubhouse spread out on 256 acres in the Jane Street and Sheppard Avenue area.

When the club started, it was surrounded by farmland. As Toronto developed, Oakdale found itself having to co- exist with the nearby Jane and Finch area, a Toronto neighbourhood that has been plagued by poverty and crime.

Oakdale, rather than trying to shut out trouble, has worked to forge links the community, Mr. Pirk says.

Among its efforts, it employs people from the neighbourhood and offers a caddy scholarship program, Mr. Roth says.

“ The club has a long history in terms of its social responsibility and its responsibility to the larger community,” Mr. Pirk says.