Oshawa Golf Club

[chunky]

Oshawa Golf cCub ....Great course, Friendly members . Unfortunately it's a financial disaster , due to poor management and huge ongoing deficits and loans . The club is strapped for money and the business plan seems to be to run a deficit ,then assess the members. (2019 ,2021 and likely 2022 ) Also the annual dues have increased significantly as has the bar minimum and there are monthly charges ( for years to come ) to pay for a new irrigation system .Many have resigned in the last few years as it has become unreasonably expensive .

[stewie35]

Had heard at one point they are building a condo, is this going forward?

also that the installing the new irrigation may shut down 9 holes while installing.

any updates on timeframes of the above or if they are going forward?

[Weirfan]

also that the installing the new irrigation may shut down 9 holes while installing.

?

Each situation is different but my understanding is that the potential exists to stage the renovation to one hole at a time and minimize the impact on play.

cost is a big factor....I've heard it's a ~$ 2 million job.....perhaps some of the Supers on here can comment.

Oshawa was a longstanding venue for the GTA AM tour, but not on the schedule this season..... wonder if the potential reno has anything to do with it ? Pretty good source of income for the course to be hosts for 1 day.

[4underthru9]

These guys don't come cheap so where's he money coming from now?

Restoration

Oshawa is one of the most historic clubs in Canada, having formed in 1906. The club’s commitment to its classic golf course is captured in its mission statement: “Building upon our rich history and tradition, we provide the highest standard of sporting and social member experience in the Durham Region.”

As the club’s values speak to the importance of being best-in-class, in recent years Oshawa has retained the services of Mackenzie & Ebert, one of the most significant golf course architecture firms in the world. Oshawa recognizes sustainable member clubs pay significant attention to their key assets, in this case our golf course, which is attributed to designer Stanley Thompson.

As such, under the direction of Tom Mackenzie, a partner in Mackenzie & Ebert, Oshawa has entered into a long-range plan designed to foster general improvements in the design over coming years.

[Mr22putt]

Looking at this thread...there are quite a few older/past members who no longer or infrequently post???

[bogey5]

These guys don't come cheap so where's he money coming from now?

Restoration

Oshawa is one of the most historic clubs in Canada, having formed in 1906. The club’s commitment to its classic golf course is captured in its mission statement: “Building upon our rich history and tradition, we provide the highest standard of sporting and social member experience in the Durham Region.”

As the club’s values speak to the importance of being best-in-class, in recent years Oshawa has retained the services of Mackenzie & Ebert, one of the most significant golf course architecture firms in the world. Oshawa recognizes sustainable member clubs pay significant attention to their key assets, in this case our golf course, which is attributed to designer Stanley Thompson.

As such, under the direction of Tom Mackenzie, a partner in Mackenzie & Ebert, Oshawa has entered into a long-range plan designed to foster general improvements in the design over coming years.

Hard to tell from the wording what exactly they've been engaged to do. Might be something as small as just developing a master plan to guide future work over the next 20 years. If they're laying in a new irrigation system it's a good time to know what the future looks like so they can align the routing of water lines with a long range plan for the course. Don't want to lay a new line now and then move a tee box a few years later where there's no water. My understanding is new irrigation systems these days cost a $hit ton more than just a few years ago so depending on scope and how contracts are being given out their design/consulting fees probably aren't gonna be a major cost relative to the rest. And they could have /should have called others before hiring these guys. Ian Andrews for example is a local guy and a Thompson expert so if they didn't at least ask him for a quote that'd be kinda stupid imo.

[bogey5]

Oshawa Golf cCub ....Great course, Friendly members . Unfortunately it's a financial disaster , due to poor management and huge ongoing deficits and loans . The club is strapped for money and the business plan seems to be to run a deficit ,then assess the members. (2019 ,2021 and likely 2022 ) Also the annual dues have increased significantly as has the bar minimum and there are monthly charges ( for years to come ) to pay for a new irrigation system .Many have resigned in the last few years as it has become unreasonably expensive .

Hopefully they work things out. It's been around forever. Assessments are a part of life at clubs like that. I know of 2 other GTA clubs doing irrigation and they're running assessments til 2030 and beyond to pay for it. Looking from afar aren't Oshawa's problems to some degree a result of not properly assessing the membership for things they did 7-8 years ago? There's no free ride in the end.

[mstram]

FYI (to everyone), one of the RBC Can Open regional qualifiers is at Oshawa May 15

https://www.golfcanada.ca/competitions-calendar/

[68shark]

Hard to tell from the wording what exactly they've been engaged to do. Might be something as small as just developing a master plan to guide future work over the next 20 years. If they're laying in a new irrigation system it's a good time to know what the future looks like so they can align the routing of water lines with a long range plan for the course. Don't want to lay a new line now and then move a tee box a few years later where there's no water. My understanding is new irrigation systems these days cost a $hit ton more than just a few years ago so depending on scope and how contracts are being given out their design/consulting fees probably aren't gonna be a major cost relative to the rest. And they could have /should have called others before hiring these guys. Ian Andrews for example is a local guy and a Thompson expert so if they didn't at least ask him for a quote that'd be kinda stupid imo.

Interesting reading a thread that I posted in (in 2016) and then seeing it now. I left Oshawa after 2021. I had changed to Social from Full B Golf around 2019. Cost was sharply rising, assessments, and so on to the point it was too expensive for what it is. The 2021 year at Social was interesting. The Club decided to forgo all minimum spending for the next year and revisit that decision the following spring. They were confident in their restaurant. This, despite Covid wreaking its havoc. In October, they reversed course and said the full minimums are being reinstated. Not prorated for the half year left, but the full amount. That was ridiculous. Some of the people that leave to go south around the same time as the announcement had no time to use up any unused spending and the club gave no consideration. They wrote a stern message to members. You cannot avoid the minimum by resigning. They will pursue that matter legally, if need be.

The M&E proposal was lavishly expensive. Members revolted. The vote to go ahead with the Mackenzie plan was voted down by about 75% of the members. The President and another VP that pushed the program resigned thereafter.

My take was this and prior boards had kicked the financial can down the road for too many years and could no longer do so. The assessment in 2021 for full golf members was about the same as the annual dues if I recall. My assessment as a Social member was not much, so paid it and left.

The condo was supposed to be the financial saviour, but that seems to have evaporated. No idea where that stands now. Can't find any reference to it online. Was to be called "The 1906" after the year the club was founded.

Fun item. Go to Oshawa GC home page and you'll see a golfer with a great swing teeing off on the First tee. That's Brandt Snedeker the day after he won the Canadian Open in 2013. Came to Oshawa to play a charity event in honour of his then caddie and Oshawa protege, Scott Vail.

[TheBananaSlice]

Interesting reading a thread that I posted in (in 2016) and then seeing it now. I left Oshawa after 2021. I had changed to Social from Full B Golf around 2019. Cost was sharply rising, assessments, and so on to the point it was too expensive for what it is. The 2021 year at Social was interesting. The Club decided to forgo all minimum spending for the next year and revisit that decision the following spring. They were confident in their restaurant. This, despite Covid wreaking its havoc. In October, they reversed course and said the full minimums are being reinstated. Not prorated for the half year left, but the full amount. That was ridiculous. Some of the people that leave to go south around the same time as the announcement had no time to use up any unused spending and the club gave no consideration. They wrote a stern message to members. You cannot avoid the minimum by resigning. They will pursue that matter legally, if need be.

The M&E proposal was lavishly expensive. Members revolted. The vote to go ahead with the Mackenzie plan was voted down by about 75% of the members. The President and another VP that pushed the program resigned thereafter.

My take was this and prior boards had kicked the financial can down the road for too many years and could no longer do so. The assessment in 2021 for full golf members was about the same as the annual dues if I recall. My assessment as a Social member was not much, so paid it and left.

The condo was supposed to be the financial saviour, but that seems to have evaporated. No idea where that stands now. Can't find any reference to it online. Was to be called "The 1906" after the year the club was founded.

Fun item. Go to Oshawa GC home page and you'll see a golfer with a great swing teeing off on the First tee. That's Brandt Snedeker the day after he won the Canadian Open in 2013. Came to Oshawa to play a charity event in honour of his then caddie and Oshawa protege, Scott Vail.

Appreciate the insights…very interesting stuff. Did they end up chasing people legally to get their pound of flesh?

The minimum when I was last a member at Oshawa in 2011 was about $1000. It was tough spending 1K on a menu designed for octogenarians.