Women’s golf club steps to the fore
Luxury condos coming to 9th hole at historic Ladies’ Golf Club of T.O.
Ada Mackenzie, a Canadian championship golfer in the early 1920s, chafed at her Toronto club’s rules. Men were given priority for the best weekday tee times. Women were barred from the course on weekends.
So, inspired by female golfers in England, Mackenzie founded the Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto in 1924. It remains the only private golf club in North America created by women, for women.
Now, as urban growth surrounds the Thornhill club, a corner of the course will be developed into a midrise luxury condominium: the Royal Bayview, by Tridel.
It will offer residents a slice of the site’s rich history and views of the rolling greens (between Bayview Avenue and Yonge Street north of John Street) where golfers once stood aside to let Mackenzie play through.
“It’s a beautiful course in a beautiful location — but in the last five or six years, the golf industry has been shrinking,” said Joan Anderton, president of the Ladies’ Golf Club board. Mindful of improvements needed for the 96-year-old clubhouse and course, club members made the decision to sell the 9th hole to finance needed updates.
They put out a request for development proposals for a 2.6-acre piece of land that had been a par-three hole. The golf club will construct another hole to keep the 18-hole circuit intact. Anderton says the sale represents less than two per cent of the property.
“We had huge interest as it’s a real jewel, and we vetted different bids, then chose Tridel,” Anderton said.
“We wanted a beautiful building, but we are a golf club, not developers. We don’t know what products will sell and we are not experts in design. That’s Tridel’s job. They are very good at working with the community, they took councillors on tours of the property and worked closely with the Royal Orchard Ratepayers group.”
The verdant, 132-acre property and course were financed nearly a century ago by Mackenzie’s sale of $30,000 of shares in the club. As well, Toronto entrepreneur J.P. Bickell — a majority owner in the fledging Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team and long-time president of Maple Leaf Gardens, which he built — contributed to the financing.
The par-72 championship club, designed by renowned golf course architect Stanley Thompson, opened on Aug. 23, 1926. It still has an all-female board and membership, though men can play as guest card holders with restricted perks and privileges.
It is also an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, one of less than1,000 courses around the world to achieve the wildlife certification.
Mackenzie, born in Toronto in 1891, attended Havergal College private girls’ school where she played basketball, cricket, ice hockey and figure skated, becoming the school’s Athlete of the
Year three years in a row. She started golfing when she was 10 and at age 27 captured the first of her 10 Canadian championships.
She was one of the best female golfers in North America and England and in 1933, at age 42, Mackenzie won every major golf championship in Canada and was named Female Athlete of the Year by The Canadian Press.
She was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1955, and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1971, three years before her death.
She also started a women’s sportswear store, Ada Mackenzie Ltd., on Bloor Street in 1930 after a downpour caused the woollen outfit she was wearing at a golf championship in St. Louis to stretch and impede her swing.
“I started golfing when women were supposed to know more about a cook stove than a niblick (a type of golf iron),” she told Canadian Golfer magazine. At age 80, she was still able to play her course in 80 strokes, according to the club archives.
Samson Fung, Tridel’s vicepresident of marketing, said the firm is happy for the opportunity to build at the Ladies Golf Club of Toronto.
“There are amazing views all the way down the golf course and the condo building has been designed to maximize those views. Bayview is a prestigious address, so the name has a bit of cachet.”
The condo project, designed by Kirkor Architect and Planners, will have a 12- and 14-storey tower, joined by a two-storey lobby.
There will be a total 167 suites, many with vistas of the course. About 30 per cent of the units have been sold so far.
Fung says Tridel gave careful thought to the buyers, most who will be downsizing from large, detached homes and are new to the condo lifestyle. The result is a luxury building with a high standard of architecture and design, and comprehensive amenities, including 24-hour concierge, fitness centre, indoor pool, pet facilities and a golf simulator.
“We wanted architecture that is not very contemporary, but contemporary enough to appeal to a large demographic,” said Fung adding that designer at Kirkor “has done a great job maximizing balconies and terraces at the Royal Bayview and the building steps back on the majority of floors. We are very fortunate to work with these architects.”
Suites will be large, from 1,071 to 4,781 square feet and priced from $1.2 million to $5.9 million, with occupancy anticipated for late 2024.