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Golf course off to a hot summer

By Meg Olson

This week, the Point Roberts Golf and Country Club will make its first step on the road to hosting the PGA tour. It will welcome 100 of the best young golfers in Canada as a stop on the Western Canada Junior Golf Tour, May 25 and 26. “They’re all young juniors, under 18, but they’re good golfers,” said golf course manager Mark Lundrigan. “These are our future pros.”

For two afternoons those future pros will be displacing a growing number of golfers that line up to play the new golf course every day of the week.

“We’re doing close to 250 golfers a day,” Lundrigan said. Since they opened last September the course has grown in popularity and most days now, it’s booked.

Golfers are still parking along the road and starting at the 18th hole rather than the first. The growing golf course staff is still working out of a trailer in a dirt parking lot, but the parking area and first phase clubhouse next to the putting green and the first hole are a month or so from completion. “We’re hearing July so we think we’ll move in in August,” Lundrigan said of the two-story log clubhouse. Construction on the driving range is also scheduled to begin in August after heron fledglings in the nearby colony leave the nest.

The club has been building its membership along with its infrastructure, and adding different membership categories to suit local demands. There are now 17 local members and 22 overseas members, most of whom purchased a $35,000 transferable membership. The non-transferable membership costs $25,000, and yearly dues for both will be $180 per year after the course is complete. They have been reduced to $100 this year to compensate members for the current unsettled conditions. All prices are in Canadian dollars.

A special junior membership for golfers between 11 and 18, costing only $450 per year, has been one of the hot sellers. There are now 12 junior club members.

The club has recently added another option, a trial membership, which allows golfers to taste the benefits of membership for one year for $4,000: unlimited golf, discounts on everything from carts to clothes, and preferred tee times. The trial memberships are not renewable but $1,000 can be applied to the cost of a membership if the holder decides to join permanently.

Public play continues to account for most of the golf played in Point Roberts. On May 31 greens fees will jump up to summer rates: $70 on weekdays and $80 Friday through Sunday. On long summer evenings, however, golfers can enjoy the best in budget golf. After 4:30 p.m. the fee drops to $45 and after 6:30 p.m. it’s only $20.

The upcoming junior tournament is the first of several special events being planned for the summer. The next is a pro-am invitational on June 26 to raise money for the Western Canada Junior Golf Tour. The fundraiser will pair each of 23 professional golfers with four amateur golfers who pay a $300 entry fee each. Entry includes lunch before and dinner after the event at the Best Western in Tsawwassen and a shuttle to and from the golf course.

For more information about the golf course call 945-GOLF or visit www. pointrobertsgolfcourse.com. For more information about the Western Canada Junior Golf Tour and the pro-am invitational visit www.wcjgt.com or call 877/859-GOLF..

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