When Mark Twain quipped golf is a good walk ruined, it's unlikely he envisaged the ludicrous amble in limbo being taken by the Prince George Golf and Curling Club.
It was six years ago that this newspaper wrote hopefully: "The mountain pine beetle has ravaged a city landmark to the point of ruin but new commercial development and a new riverside golf jewel might emerge as a result." The wood pest had denuded one of province's finest old-style courses of three-quarters of its 9,000 lodgepole pines. However, a developer had offered $15 million for the club's 140 or so acres of lush property downtown; the prospect of a reborn course, funded by the sale and located elsewhere in the city, was eagerly anticipated.
But, like many a journey from tee to green, the difference between hope and the hole proved to be a matter of more strokes.
The original deal with the developer, the Alberta-based Pomeroy Group fell apart, and, after an out-of-court settlement with Pomeroy, the course pinned its hopes on Langley-based BFW Development. Club president Kevin Bowman remained optimistic a new course would be ready in 2010 but BFW bailed in 2007, prompting then-Mayor Colin Kinsley to call in a consultant to develop a long-range plan for the site.
Not an auspicious start. But RJ Cooper Group, a collection of local investors, came together in anticipation of a viable plan from the city and put the club's hopes back on course.
That is until city council stepped up to the ball last Monday and sliced the issue back into the rough.
Watchers of Prince George municipal politics would have probably pointed out two putting the words "viable," "plan," "hopes," and "city" together can only elicit derision. RJ Cooper lamented the Pine Centre Neighbourhood Plan wouldn't enable the group to make money - the plan allocated 18.6 acres for parkland, 8.8 acres for a tennis and clubhouse; Cooper said it has always claimed it needs a "normal" seven acres of park and three acres of trail to make the move economic.
However, revisiting the plan would require another round of public consultations and cost $200,000, causing council to balk and the mayor to make like Pontious Pilate with the words: "What transpires now is beyond council." The only shocking part of the decision was that the butt-covering cabal that is mayor and council didn't leap at the chance of commissioning another of the studies 1100 Patricia Boulevard is so famed for.
One hopes that RJ Cooper and the city can come to terms. And there is a case for goodwill to be made here. RJ Cooper intervened when out-of-town developers left the club twisting and is the best hope for a sustainable conclusion to this interminable saga. Accommodating a group of local investors keen to move a major development forward would seem a prudent move.
Regardless, the decision to dismiss Cooper's concerns out of hand puts mayor and council's claims to be business-friendly in a sorry light at best. It's something voters should consider when looking at incumbents in the upcoming municipal elections.
Meanwhile, many course members are clubbing up and digging in, resigned to the fact that they're farther away from a new home than ever and prepared to make do on their current track, which remains an enjoyable test for the avid golfer. But staying put entails its own challenges, particularly the cost of running the curling club, which joined with the golf course in 1973. With the 2015 Winter Games on the horizon, using the curling club as leverage against the city is an option members should consider.
Regardless, with the costs of rehabilitating the PGGCC from the attack of the pine beetle still prohibitive, the club remains right where it started - moving from trouble to more trouble.
