I have enjoyed a 42-year career in the golf industry. I continue to volunteer at golf courses and occasionally play. In light of recent reports regarding the Cedar Hill course, I believe the public needs to be aware of some golf industry facts.

As an industry professional, I attended the first worldwide symposium of the golf industry in 1990.

Twenty-two years ago, golf industry professionals were told that their industry was headed for disaster. The message we were encouraged to take back to our golf clubs was simple and clear:

- The senior golfer is the heaviest user of the facility.

- The senior golfer tends to financially support the facility the least, by not patronizing the food and beverage operation or anything other than the course itself.

- The senior golfer has the most amount of disposable income to spend on recreation.

With this message clearly understood, the recommendation was to not charge the senior golfer any more, and to make sure he was not charged any less by way of discounts and special privileges. Golf courses that did not heed this warning would not take in sufficient revenue to pay operating expenses.

Living in a beautiful place such as Saanich and playing golf on a beautiful golf course is not a necessity of life. It is, however, an expensive luxury and golfers must be prepared to cover the daily operational costs or make some concessions to accommodate those who are willing to pay for the prime tee times.

Only 20 per cent of Canadians play golf, and the majority of them are seniors, who have the most disposal income and tend not to support their club facilities other than to use the course at prime times. The annual seasonal member likely pays on average $11 to $12 per round of golf and uses most of the prime golfing times.

There are many ways to operate a golf facility successfully. For those who think leasing the food-and-beverage operation is the answer, please think again. No operator of a food-and-beverage company is going to take this on when he is saddled with union-regulated hourly rates and benefits for staff.

The society operating Qualicum Beach Municipal Golf Course does not have to deal with unions. If it did, that operation would need to be subsidized with taxpayer dollars.

I am extremely thankful for the previous elected officials and governments that had the foresight to build beautiful golf courses for the good of their communities with taxpayer dollars as they did for other recreational facilities.

It is highly possible that I would have never personally taken up the game of golf if it had not been for an affordable, publicly owned facility in the community that I grew up in.

I am thankful that I now receive a monthly old-age pension cheque. I woke up this morning with absolutely nothing that I had to do and I am happy to say I will be going to bed tonight with only half of it done.

All of you seniors using Cedar Hill, enjoying golf at $11 or $12 a round, should ask not what your golf club can do for you, but what you can do for your golf club. If you all volunteered four hours a week, to your golf club, to assist in the food and beverage operation, gardening, marshalling, starting and so on, your golf club would be sustainable.

It is unlikely I will ever use Cedar Hill, but I would volunteer to do whatever is necessary to help this facility survive.

Why? Because my wish is to ensure that the game of golf and club facilities will be there for my grandson, who just got his first set of clubs for his fourth birthday, to enjoy when he is my age.

I want him to have the same opportunities that I had growing up, learning to golf at a beautiful, affordable publicly owned facility.

Larry Purpur is retired in Campbell River.