Review staff
The duffers, hackers and even the sharks have one less option when it comes to playing their favourite game following the announcement that the Westland Golf Course on the outskirts of Rimbey has closed its doors.
The sale of the facility was actually completed last May, however the course remained opened through the summer of 2007 and was quite the meeting place for seniors and younger golfers who enjoyed the course.
“I feel bad that we can’t continue on with the golf course because I did think it served a purpose for the seniors and beginner golfers in our community,” said Winnine Vik who has run the course with her husband Bill for the past seven years. “And of course, the driving range was well used by all those who were trying to improve their golfing. They didn’t necessarily golf here because this was a fairly basic course for them, but they certainly came and used the driving range.”
She said the course was very appealing to both young and older golfers because it wasn’t too challenging and with virtually no hills or water and plenty of flat land, was very easy to get around.
“You could get into the rough or into trouble if you weren’t straight but still, it served a purpose in the community – let’s put it that way, and I’m sorry to see it end,” she added.
“The seniors knew last year that it would be their last year that they would be golfing, so they knew in advance.”
While she said they are still receiving phone calls about the driving range, Mrs. Vik added that she has many fond memories about the course, most notably the people who played there.
“We enjoyed the people. The majority of the people were very good, especially our seniors group,” she said. “We used to have a coffee morning on the patio after their Wednesday morning golf and I’m sure they enjoyed it. They certainly seemed to.”
The couple said they will remain in their house on the property, but as for the rest of the land, developers will be starting to sub-divide lots and begin residential construction in the near future.
They also pointed to the fact that they’ve been tied to the course every summer since it opened and are looking forward to some much-needed freedom to pursue other interests, including golf which they rarely had time to play.
“We started the driving range in 1987 and that involved about five acres,” recalled Bill Vik. “We had more land that we rented to the neighbour, but of course we didn’t even get enough out of that to pay the taxes, so we decided there must be something better to do with the land rather than rent it out.”
Vik said he seeded the remaining land to grass in 2000 and opened the course in 2001. He said the venture never made big money but because they lived on and owned the land, their overhead was much lower than traditional golf courses.
He added that escalating costs for maintenance, machinery repairs and other related golf equipment put a crimp on the bottom line, and added that just one new mower runs at a cost of approximately $35,000.
“It was a good pastime. You didn’t get much for your labour, but it was fun. Over the years it was okay, but after a while the Town got involved and said we were running it as a golf course and it was a commercial venture,” he said. “Of course, you know what happens to the taxes. It went from $180 a year for the land while it was in agriculture, to $3,600. Well that takes quite a big chunk out of your income.”
Vik said he tried to negotiate a deal with the Town to supply water to the greens but failed. He added that he was denied permission to drill a well and was also denied access to the town’s water supply due to its limited amount.
“It was a good venture for something to do. I couldn’t sit around and do nothing so this was a good project,” he said. “I think a lot of the seniors are going to miss it. We didn’t get an awful lot of support from the younger group. I would say 90 per cent of our customers were seniors and families that came.”