The club is the site for at least a dozen tournaments each year, each attracting over 150 visitors from across the province who eat, sleep and spend money in the area. Members are primarily serving or retired military personnel and the junior program at Greenwood is a strong one.
Within days of the April announcement outlining the closure, Mike Logan, a former military administrative officer and a past president of two different military golf courses, formed a committee of course members to save the facility.
Unfortunately, the impact of the announcement was equally swift.
“We’ve lost 30 members we would have had if they hadn’t made that announcement,” said member Stu Nauss.
In a letter to Logan’s committee, Wing Commander Col. Pat Thauberger, who will leave 14 Wing in July, cited financial losses, a saturated golf course market and declining membership as the reasons for his decision.
The Greenwood golf course opened in 1959 and falls under Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services, (CFMWS), which administers non-public property. The running of the course falls to a hired general manager and a board made of two appointees from the Wing Commander and volunteers from the members. Financial functions are the job of non-public fund administrators.
This division of labour comes with its own problems, according to Logan.
“The first time we saw a financial status of this club is when they put a slide on the board during our opening meeting,” he said.
According to Nauss, it has been at least a dozen years since the Greenwood membership has seen a set of financials.
The committee has requested one year in which to prove that the course could support itself, outlining their plans for fundraising.
“We may not cure the problem with a year,” said long-time member Dean Saltzman, “but at least we’d be on the right track.”
Thauberger did not grant the request.
But there does seem to be hope. West Nova MP Colin Fraser is making inquiries of DND as to how he can be of assistance and to express the concerns of his constituents.
“I understand the concerns and I want to make sure people are being treated fairly” said Fraser during a phone interview July 5.
Premier Stephen McNeil has also been approached by Logan’s committee in his capacity as both premier and Minister responsible for Military Relations. In a July 6 phone interview, he explained that while any decision would fall to the Minister of National Defence, “I would say to you that I am sure he is probably considering the fact that there has been tremendous community support around the idea of a year’s reprieve to see what the possibilities could be for this golf course. It is certainly my hope that he would exercise that to give the community a chance to see if there is a way that the golf course could be self-sustainable.”
14 Wing public affairs officer Sara Keddy confirmed July 6 that the Minister of National Defence is involved.
“(He) has a letter from that committee and it is on his desk for him to consider the request,” said Keddy in a phone interview. “Therefore, it would be inappropriate for the Wing Commander to add anything to that discussion until the minister makes his determination.”
