The drop in the number of rounds people are playing on British Columbia’s top public golf courses has made the past few years challenging for the province’s golf industry.
The average number of rounds played at the province’s 20 busiest public golf courses fell 4% in 2017 to 38,891 from 40,519 rounds in 2016, according to data from Business in Vancouver’s Busiest Public Golf Courses in B.C. list (page 16). Since 2013, when BIV’s list included only the largest golf courses in Metro Vancouver, the average number of rounds played has fallen by 17,204, or 30.7%.
Only two of the province’s largest public golf courses had more rounds played in 2017 compared with 2016; neither of them is in Metro Vancouver. Kaleden-based Twin Lakes Golf & RV Resort had the largest growth in rounds played, increasing 5.8%, or 1,100 rounds, to 20,000 in 2017 from 18,900 rounds in 2016. The second-largest increase in rounds played was at Howe Sound’s Furry Creek Golf and Country Club, which increased 3.9% to 18,691 in 2017 from 17,995 in 2016.
The Vancouver-based McCleery Golf Course suffered the largest drop in the number of rounds played. It fell 15.9% to 39,999 in 2017 from 47,545 in 2016, even though McCleery has one of the least expensive rates among the province’s busiest courses. •
