Article content

City council has voted to close the Richmond Green Golf Course due to financial losses and low attendance.

Coun. Ward Sutherland, who with Coun. Diane Colley-Urquhart brought forward a motion calling for the closure following this year’s golf season, said patrons of Richmond Green can instead visit the nearby, city-owned Lakeview Golf Course.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or City to close money-losing Richmond Green Golf Course after 2019 season Back to video

“In fact, Lakeview is on the border of not having good enough attendance to survive also, so hopefully the combination of these two … make it successful,” he told council Monday.

Greg Steinraths with City of Calgary recreation said the 9-hole, par-3 Richmond Green has the lowest visitation of any city golf course and is the “poorest performer” financially.

The facility in southwest Calgary has seen declining attendance and annual financial losses between $150,000 and $200,000.

The motion from Sutherland and Colley-Urquhart also asked staff to give an interim update to council in October on an ongoing review of all six city-owned golf courses and their potential for sale or redevelopment.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who opposed the motion, questioned whether it was too early to make the decision about closing a course while administration is working on the broader review, which is scheduled to come back to council next year.

“I think it’s too early,” he said. “I would love to see a stronger portfolio analysis…I would much prefer to wait, even if it means we keep this thing open for one more year.”

Colley-Urquhart said she has long been a proponent of public golf courses, but “the time will come when our personal opinion about public golf in the city is unsustainable.”