Fore the U of M

University to purchase golf course

ROMER BAUTISTA STAFF

The U of M and the Southwood Golf and Country Club have reached an agreement that would see the university purchase the 120-acre golf course for $10 million.

According to Ian Shaw, chairman of the long-range planning committee at Southwood, members of the golf and country club voted 98 per cent in favour of the sale. The executives of the golf club and the U of M Board of Governors had already approved the proposal.

The Southwood golf course has become a familiar sight for the majority of university staff and students that drive down University Crescent. The golf club has occupied the land since 1910.

Club officials said that despite being a beautiful course, it was too small to a modern facility.

“We we’re having problems hitting balls into the streets,” said Shaw.
The club also cited concerns that riverbank erosion would make its ninth and 10th holes unplayable and the need for a significant upgrade to the clubhouse as reasons for the move Southwood first explored the possibility of simply renovating the current facilities, but came to the conclusion that repairing the riverbank would be to costly, and that the course would still be too small.

Southwood has already purchased land in St. Norbert, about a 15-minute drive south of the current location, where it plans to build a new state-of-the-art golf course. The club has already contracted the services of Canada’s premier golf architect Thomas McBroom to design its new course. Construction of the new facility is expected to begin in 2008, and could take up to three years to complete, according to club officials. As part of the agreement, Southwood would continue to operate at the current location until the new course is complete.

“At this point, nothing is specifically planned (for the property),” said John Danakas, director of communications at the U of M. Danakas said that by allowing Southwood to continue using the land it “gives the university time to work out its plans.” The university is currently making plans to consult with stakeholders and interested parties about what to do with the new property.
Danakas said that there have been thoughts that the new land could be used to expand on the university’s attempt to create a “live, work, learn, and play community.”

One possibility, explained Danakas, was for the property to be used to build condos for retired professors and staff. “There would be a lot of benefits [to retired professors and staff] to living near campus, since it’s an environment that they’ve been near before — the libraries, the lectures, the entertainment,” he said.

The land is also ideal for building new residences, an idea that the U of M has been floating around even prior to beginning discussions with Southwood.

“It’s definitely a goal of the university to be able to provide additional residences on the Fort Garry campus, even if not on this land. The need might even be to have new residences sooner than that, before this land is developed, but it could be part of the mix as well,” Danakas said.

Southwood initially approached the university to explain their intentions of moving, and received a call back from associate vice-president Alan Sims, stating the university’s interest in the property.

“Unlike a commercial developer that would just come in . . . we believe the university has a very strong plan for the site,” Shaw said.

The purchase of the property will be funded through capital revenues from the U of M’s General Trust. The General Trust is a reserve account that has been earmarked for special projects. More recently, it was used to purchase the land on which the new pharmacy building at the Bannatyne campus is being built.

—With files from Tessa Vanderhart