As Marc Forbes stepped to the Niagara-on-the-Lake Golf Club’s first tee Thursday, April 13, he remarked to his playing partners, “this just feels right!”
The co-owner of the club was the very first golfer to tee off for 2023 on a day that was absolutely perfect for golf. Grounds crew members were busily putting the finishing touches on some of the holes as the first foursome hit the links at about 7:55 am, a bit earlier than their scheduled start due to their eagerness.
Forbes was joined by former Niagara Ice Dog Alex Friesen and friends Brett Kerr and Simon McInnis in the first group to hit the links.
Head pro Keith Vant was just as excited to begin his second year running the pro shop, having been hired to replace Billy Simkin in 2022.
“It’s a little bit smoother,” Vant told The Local Thursday. “We’re ready to go. We have a lot of new staff, so we’re still training them. But we’re just so happy to be open now.”
Vant and Forbes were both pleased with the feedback they had received from the grounds crew prior to the scheduled opening day.
“We’re green with all that rain, for sure,” Vant said. “We were really wet for awhile, and the date for opening day was up in the air for a while. Mike (Magwood, club superintendent) and his crew have done a great job. It dried up a lot in the wind yesterday, too.”
Vant invited The Local into the pro shop, where lots of bright, bold new product was filling the shelves and the clothing racks.
“We’ll see what the members like,” said Vant, “we’ll see what sells, and try to keep them happy moving forward. We have some new staff in the pro shop, too.”
Also new this year is the club’s online booking system. Forbes said it was a long time coming.
“When we took over the club last year it was one of the first things we wanted to do,” explained Forbes, who shares ownership with Eva Reif and Rob DiDomenico. “After running the club for a year we felt it was time. We know it might be a bit of a difficult transition for some of our members, but we’ll work them through the change.”
“It should make things much more smooth,” Vant adds. “It should limit calls to the pro shop, allow the pro shop guys to be able to engage customers and acknowledge them a little more rather than constantly having to answer phones and relay messages. It’s a pretty easy system, too.”
Indeed, this golfer, a social member of the club, has already found it easier to book a tee time using the new system, which is similar to those in place at most other golf courses around the Niagara Region.
Vant says the junior membership ranks are continuing to grow this year, and the club is finalizing the dates for their popular summer golf camps this week, which will take place during July and August. He’s hoping to have enough to run a junior league like they did in 2022. As well, besides the junior championship, he’s planning to hold a senior-junior event and a drive, chip and putt competition this summer.
Overall, membership numbers continue to be strong at the oldest golf club in North America.
“There’s a long waitlist for full membership, too,” he said. “Some people have been on that list for almost three years. We’re going to tidy up that list this month and hopefully shrink it down a bit.”