City tees up golf season despite subpar weather
Toronto opens all 5 courses, whose $5M operating costs are recovered by greens fees
Rose Adams started playing golf about eight months ago so she could spend more time with her husband.
“We were going to Myrtle Beach, (S.C.), in the winter,” Adams said after a round at Dentonia Park, near Victoria Park Station. “There’s not a lot to do except if you golf.”
Now she “loves” the game, especially being out on a balmy day.
On a sunny Thursday, golf lovers teed off heading into the long weekend as the City of Toronto’s golf courses threw open their gates at 10 a.m.
The city operates five golf courses: Dentonia, Don Valley, Humber Valley, Scarlett Woods and Tam O’Shanter.
The annual operating cost of the greens is about $5 million, which is fully recovered by golf revenues, with no tax dollars spent, said Matthew Cutler, spokesperson for Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation.
“If we weren’t using these lands as golf courses, they would be parkland and would cost nearly a million dollars in maintenance,” Cutler explained.
“So golf offers a recreational opportunity and helps us to cover the maintenance costs at the same time.”
Vincent McNeil said he has been coming to Dentonia, which is marking its 50th anniversary, for more than 24 years.
The best thing about the course, he said, is that at the higher elevations it “looks like the world spreads out in front of you.”
McNeil said there is also a lot of wildlife that pops up when least expected; on Thursday, a groundhog distracted some players.
A few miles from Dentonia is the Tam O’Shanter, where Harry James, who volunteers as a starter, said he shot his best — a 75 — last year. Albert Chan and Mo Lo met on the golf course and plan on playing through the weekend. Chan’s favourite hole is number 18.
Scott Fraser said that while Tam O’Shanter is a “nice, quaint” golf course, it’s an easy one, adding the best thing about the game is that it changes depending on wind and weather conditions.
The city-run golf courses are open dawn to dusk, and stay open until mid-November.