The Links of Maggie May golf course will not reopen for the 2023 golf season.
That will mark the end of a family business that’s been serving the Prince George golf community since 1999.
After the death of her husband James in October, Margaret McConaghy and her sons James Jr. and Terry considered their own health, declining usage of the course and the difficulty finding maintenance workers and made the decision two months ago to permanently close the course.
“My husband used to do a lot of the maintenance and working on it and you would have had to replace two people with what he did, and people don’t seem to want to work,” said Margaret.
The nine-hole course northeast of the city was known for its large greens and wide-open fairways. It took loving care and long days to make the Links of Maggie May a player on the local golf scene, but the pandemic put a serious dent in business and it never recovered.
“It is very sad,” said Margaret, “but we also have to look at how many people come out and who can afford to come out. We looked at the numbers. Businesses can’t afford to stay open just to stay open.”
James Sr., a logger, was the driving force behind the project to turn 160 acres of farmland into golf course. He took it on as a personal challenge when he was told it couldn’t be done.
The name stems from a family conversation not long before the course opened.
“We were sitting around a table deciding on a name and they asked me what I was going to do,” she said. “I said, ‘I may and I may not,’ and they said, that’s the name of the golf course.
“At present we have no idea exactly what’s going to take place. We’ll just let it rest a while.”
