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Golf real estate still hot
A hot golf real estate market shows no signs of slowing down, as the Saskatchewan economy remains strong and aging Baby Boomers retire to the golf course. While some areas on the province have returned to a more balanced general real estate market, limited supply and increased demand continues to drive the golf real estate market.
From the native prairie, links-style courses of southern Saskatchewan to the majestic boreal forest and lake area of the North, there's a venue for everyone. With summer days away, now is the perfect time to check out real estate opportunities at such hotspots as Elk Ridge Resort, Northern Meadows Golf Resort and Candle Lake Golf Resort.
Located one hour north of Prince Albert on #2 highway, adjacent to Prince Albert National Park and 5 minutes from Waskesiu townsite, Elk Ridge Resort is one of Saskatchewan 's premier recreation and residential developments. Aside from a championship course, nearby attractions include Waskesiu Golf Club, the numerous services in and around Waskesiu itself, and winter attractions.
"Above all Elk Ridge Resort offers you an unparalleled 27-hole golf course," says Debra Kuzbik, director of resort sales. The Eagle View Villas is located within walking distance of the clubhouse and first tee.
There are only 9 of 64, two-level, three-bedroom condos still available. The main level includes the kitchen/dining/living room area, a master bedroom and ensuite, a half-bath and laundry facility. The second level features a loft area(s), two bedrooms and a full bath. These villas range in size from 1,700 to 2,400 square feet and each unit has a 1 1/2 or two-car garage.
The Elk Ridge Estates is the dream home center of Elk Ridge Resort. Each of the ¼ to ¾ acre lots is fully-titled and serviced with natural gas, power, phone and an underground water and sewer system. Roadways are lit and most areas of the resort are paved.
Elk Ridge is close to Prince Albert and Saskatoon and a spectacular national park. Despite recent price increases, the four-season facility is very affordable when compared to similar high-end properties in British Columbia, Alberta, the United States or elsewhere. www.elkridgeresort.com/investments.html
In northwest Saskatchewan, lots at the newly expanded Northern Meadows Golf Resort are selling briskly especially to Albertans, says owner-operator Ken Olan.
"The value-added aspect of Northern Meadows can't be compared to what's available in Alberta or B.C.," says Olan who estimates 99 per cent of his buyers are from Alberta. A golf course home will cost under $200,000 compared to as much as $500,000 elsewhere.
There are several drawing cards to the Northern Meadows facility beside the affordable cost. It's located only 60 km to the Alberta border. It's next to Meadow Lake Provincial Park , the province's largest provincial park. It features prime fishing and boating at 30 nearby quality lakes. It's full-length championship course opens later this summer.
Phase I, II and III are sold out, aside from one cabin that's listed on the website. We are now working on Northern Meadows Estates, 80 plus lots located adjacent to the golf course along the west side of the golf course. This is golf course living at its best. Views of the golf course, dense bush, or just to be on a golf course; we offer all these.
The development is the fourth development with the lots complete with full services to the curb; natural gas, power, water, sewer, and telephone. The customer has title to the lots and it is theirs to do with as they please. There is a caveat files against the lots to protect the owners with building restrictions, building regulations, etc.
Recreation property continues to be a highly recommended investment. There is a growing demand for recreation property in our area, not only because of its affordability and revenue generation. www.northernmeadows.com
All eyes are still on the newly expanded Candle Lake Golf Resort after its expansion last year when the four-season facility opened to the public for the first time. While it's the epitome of scenic, unspoiled Northern Saskatchewan, its beauty is more than skin deep. Located 77 km northeast of Prince Albert , it's carved out of the beautiful boreal forest.
"The golf course lots are great value," says Rick Rumberger who operates the course with his wife Linda. Considering the proximity to the lake and the golf course, the lots and units are a bargain compared to something in Alberta or British Columbia.
Plans include development of 120+ condos, many bordering the original nine holes. Selling of phase one is in progress, with the units and owners meeting for possession this summer. Additional phases will be developed as units are required. Site plan, prices and other documents will be available for viewing on the resort website.
Phase one are Rental Pool Units. Buy the unit, use it when you want to use it, for the balance of the time Candle Lake Golf Resort will manage the renting of your unit and then we share in the rent. It's a great vacation spot, and a great investment, says Rumberger. www.candlelakegolfresort.com/homes.html
For more info on golf real estate opportunities in Saskatchewan, see MORE >>
Tune into golfblogger
One of the more interesting websites to appear in recent years is out of the United Kingdom, called GolfBlogger. One of its sections is a collection of famous and not-so-famous golf videos that you will enjoy.
My favourite is an incredible wedge shot by Phil Mickelson - it's a few years old but still totally amazing. Faced with an impossible downhill lie on a steep greenside bunker, Mickelson faces the opposite way from the flag and grinds a wedge into the hill. The ball flies over his head and lands two feet from the hole. Golf videos at www.golfblogger.co.uk/category/golf-videos/
Sweet Stay-n-Play packages
The annual list of Saskatchewan stay and play packages has started on SaskGolfer.com on Hole #10. More deals will be posted during the coming weeks, so check back again.
This year's special deals include packages at Spiritwood, the Outerbanks, Katepwa, Harbor, Elk Ridge, Evergreen, La Verendrye, Weyburn, the hawood at Waskesiu, Deer Valley, Golf Kenosee and White Bear and more - check it out at MORE >>
Hot tips from the pros
Tilt a tee - Some (not all) golfers find it helpful to tilt the tee in the direction of the shot they want to make. For a fade, tee the ball lower and tilt the ball away from you. For a draw or hook, tee a little higher and tilt it toward you as far as you can without the ball falling off. It's worth a try.
Second-guessing - If there's one thing that will blow a shot is second-guessing your shot. Size up the situation, pick a club and commit 100 per cent. If any doubt creeps in, be sure that fear will take over and the shot will be poor.
Proper launch angle critical - Driver lofts range from 6 to 13 degrees, producing different rolls and flight patterns. Low handicap golfers generate enough speed to allow them to use a low-lofted angle. But for the rest of us, we need a driver with a higher loft. Talk to your club pro or sports store manager about choosing the right driver.
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On the road to heaven
By Bob Hughes
There are few things better for the avid golfer than to get out of town and taste something new in the way of courses. I consider myself an avid golfer, if you must know. An "avid golfer" is defined in the Dictionary of Life as "someone who plays golf for almost his or her entire life, and never does get it right. What makes them avid is, they don't take up tennis, they keep golfing, knowing in the deepness of their soul that they will never get it right." Avid golfers are like the Wright Brothers. They know that if they stick with it, they will eventually get the thing off the ground.
As I write this, I have just returned home from one of the greatest Junes of my life. June has always been special for me. My father was born in June and he died in June. My birthday is in June. And, my oldest son was born in June. And June is also the month that marks Father's Day.
This indeed was A June to Remember. It actually began at the end of May when I flew to Calgary along with a former next door neighbour and his son. My son had remained friends with Matthew, close friends. And, somehow, my son hatched this idea that the four of us would fly into Calgary and then head out to Canmore for a weekend of father-son golf. There was some risk involved. It had snowed a foot the week before, but somehow the weather broke and it was sunny and warm when we arrived, and stayed that way until we left. (The following week, it snowed). We stayed in a condo owned by my son's company so we could barbecue our own meals between golf games.
That area of Alberta has some of the most wonderful golf courses in the country. We started off with a game on Friday at Stewart Creek Golf Course that sits in the shadows of the Three Sisters Mountain. The course was beautiful, but certainly was not worth the nearly $200 price tag it carried per round. We would soon find that out.
On the weekend, we returned to an old haunt of mine, one I have been visiting since it opened in the 1980s. That would be the two magnificent courses at Kananaskis - Mount Lorette and Mount Kidd. Carved out in a valley between towering mountains and alongside the rapidly flowing Kananaskis River, there is absolutely nothing lacking in playing at these two courses, including a relatively cheap price tag to play. There was breath-taking scenery, an endless stream of awe-inspiring golf holes and the sights and sounds of being at one with nature.
It is beyond me how this happened, but the two sons managed to beat the two fathers two out of three games. What could we say? Unfortunately, we had done all our talking beforehand, which turned out to be a mistake. Walk the talk, eh. They did, we didn't. But the memories of a father-son weekend on three different courses in the mountains will always be a life highlight that will stay with us forever.
Then, a few weeks later, I was back on a plane. My wife had a business meeting in Kelowna, so I tagged along. She worked, I golfed. I played five days in a row. I played at two Kelowna courses - the Harvest and The Bear Course at the Okanagan Golf and Country Club. Then, it was onto Vernon to hook up with my old friend Cec Ferguson, the former pro at the Regina Club and former general manager at the Wascana Country Club. He's now the general manager at the Vernon Golf and Country Club, where we played a round. And he saved the last for best. We took on the fabled Predator Ridge Course, site of this year's Skin Game.
The golfing journey ended on the drive back to Regina when we stopped at Revelstoke and played the Revelstoke Golf and Country Club. Built in 1924, it is a character course with magnificent trees lining each fairway and a river flowing beside it. What a month! But it was time to get back to Saskatchewan and taste some of the wonderful golf courses that dot this province.
Bob Hughes is a retired sports writer and editor with the Regina Leader Post and a passionate golfer.
The Canadian Tour
Poor little Canada. We're like the cozy little doormat for the free world. Our politicians have to talk funny, give people the finger, or scam the peasants in order to get attention on the global stage. Olympic athletes have to do drugs or fall face-first on the ice to make the front page. Our golfers, well, they either get injured, come from other countries, or grind it out for 80. It's not fair. Sure we have the Canadian Tour, but it's hardly "Canadian" anymore. Full of long-ball hittin' stud muffins from countries like Sweden, Korea, and, of course, our big brother to the south. It's time to put a little "Canadiana" back into our Tour. Don't you think?
Remember when the CFL went south to try to bolster its image? Went over like a rotten turkey at Christmas. We should learn a lesson from that. Darnit, we're Canadians. We do have our own culture. We do have an intriguing, compelling way of life that's distinctly our own. We do have great Olympians and incredibly gifted golfers (and they're good enough, smart enough, and gosh-darnit they can win!). Did I just use "darnit" twice in the same paragraph?
But the professional Canadian golf tour should be exactly that. A tour that resonates with our way of life, our people, our culture. Golf is big here. Canada is a proud sporting nation. We should be able to create a tour that the Canadian people care about, that reflects our way of life, that's truly Canadian. Here are a few suggestions...
Stop conducting the "Canadian" tour in other countries. Nothing whatsoever against the Mexicans, they're warm, wonderful people, but you don't see them having a soccer World Cup qualifier in Brandon, do you? To build some brand loyalty, let's keep to ourselves on this one. Shows we can, besides buy worthless submarines, do something on our own.
As for the players, let's begin with a "Must Be Canadian" stipulation. I mean, can we just for once be a little politically incorrect about something? Perhaps this is a little "exclusive" for some. But the tour would fully regain its true "Canadian" flavour - you know, appeasing to every single micro-organism - by allowing women, average ordinary everyday people, gay cowboys, terrorists, transvestites, and everyone else, to participate. Now it's beginning to sound like Canada, isn't it?
Ok, so we know the weather in Canada sucks. So what? Work with it. We should use it to our advantage. I guarantee you that if Winnipeg hosted the "Bring Back the Jets Golf Classic" at Blumberg in mid-April, people would get pumped. Guys wearing Extra Old Stock beer cases on their heads and Hawerchuk jerseys would be scouring the city looking for tickets. Organizers could bring back the OV stubbies, put up a big beer tent, and get Streetheart and the Queen City Kids to co-scream the national anthem and, presto, you've got a party with the masses - and a tour event for the ages. Frost, snow, ice, so what?
The "true" players will find a way. The course will recover. It's only grass (or something that's trying to become grass). Golfers have way too wimpy an image anyway. Canadians can fix that. We've got guts, right? We should show that to the world.
Not that it should just be about the party, or anything. There should be some prize money involved, too. Canadian Tire, Tim Horton's, and Petro Canada - strong Canadian blue chip companies - should get in the game and ante up. However, the last thing we need is another ultra-organized, money-is-everything type operation. This tour should be, first and foremost, about heart and soul. Players who aren't afraid to battle through and play on with broken femurs and frostbite. Players who aren't afraid to whip off the cabretta gloves, flip off the visors (or toques), and beat each other senseless for stepping on each other's putting lines. (Two-stroke "majors" for fighting?) And we don't need fifteen events in order to have a successful tour. Who says so?
Have four tournaments (Thunder Bay, Saskatoon, Kelowna and Halifax should do it), two majors (Winnipeg and Chicoutimi?) and a big freakin' party with Great Big Sea at the end. Maybe the Hip, too. Actually, come to think of it, there should be live music beside the 1st tee and 18th green at every event. Oh, and Burton, Bachman, and the rest of the boys should get together again and ride along with the tour in a big red and white bus. They could be the house band. And Celine Dion doesn't necessarily need an invite. But now I digress.
Andrew Penner is a Calgary based CPGA Professional and author who writes for golf publications across North America and has written for Inside Golf for the past six years and periodically for SaskGolfer.com.
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Golf Town to expand
After opening its first Saskatchewan location in Saskatoon this year, Golf Town Canada Inc. plans to expand to Britain in 2009 and may later take on China. Golf Town has 40 big-box stores in Canada and 13 planned during the next two years. Last year it was bought by the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, one of Canada's largest pension funds. Rumors persist about a Regina location.
The latest 2008 rules
Why not play by the rules or improve your understanding of the rules governing golf? The New Rules of Golf, Illustrated Rules of Golf and the Decisions current books are now for sale are now for sale at the Saskatchewan Golf Association office, Contact Candace Smith at 306-975-0850 or csmith@saskgolf.ca
Elevated greens a pain
There are a lot of courses out there with slightly elevated greens designed to prevent balls from bouncing on the green. Save the pain by hitting a little longer. Otherwise you may be left with a tricky short pitch or chip to the hole. So always get on and go for the putt.
What's new in 2008
Another golf season in Saskatchewan has brought another number of major changes to golf courses around the province particularly in the Saskatoon and Regina districts. The golf course boom that has characterized the last five years or so has finally ended. Despite the changes, Saskatchewan will still have a couple of national records - more golf courses and more golfers per capita than anywhere. MORE>>
Online help for golfers
If you’re a golfer and have health problems or golf-related injuries, take a look at www.golfersmd.com The website’s best feature is its search engine that allows you to track down info and people to help.
Amen Corner
"Here's the ball and there's the hole, four and a quarter inches in diameter. We're expected to get the ball from here to there in three shots, across all this land and water. And what's more amazing, sometimes we do it one shot. It boggles the mind to even think of it."
- Pro golfer Dan Halldorson
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