Finding balls in the trees

By Garry McKay
The Hamilton Spectator
More articles by this columnist
(Aug 23, 2006)

Bryan DeCunha has come up with a golf course concept that is brilliant in its simplicity.

He doesn't have a forest to cut his new course through, so he bought a tree farm.

The 77-hectare property on the Eighth Concession in Flamborough, just East of Centre Road, is the former Environs Nursery. It hasn't been an operating commercial tree farm in more than a decade however, and the property is now a mini-forest of countless species of trees.

"There are tens of thousands," said DeCunha, who has hired architect Boris Danoff to design and build the as-yet-unnamed course. "Our intent is to have each hole in its own envelope through the trees."

Construction has already begun on the course and it's scheduled to open in May 2008.

"The day that we open we won't look like a new golf course, which is amazing," said Danoff, who thinks the trees will give it a mature look.

Danoff designed the Thundering Waters course in Niagara Falls and was the on-site architect at Royal Ontario in Milton, where he worked with DeCunha, who was the operating partner. DeCunha had already decided to build another course when he sold his share of Royal Ontario to Ignat Kaneff this spring.

He was able to move the current project along quickly because the previous owners of the tree farm had already had the property zoned for a golf course.

"We want to build a full championship golf course that will be just a nice as any of the high-end golf courses in the area," said DeCunha. "Having said that, we have no delusions about charging high-end rates."

DeCunha, a Mississauga real estate developer who is investing between $12 million to $15 million in the project, said the course, which will be public, will probably charge greens fees in the $85 range.

Some might question DeCunha's sanity for building another golf course in Southern Ontario, a market that is rapidly reaching the saturation point if it isn't there already.

"I'm very cognizant of the number of golf courses that are currently in financial difficulty because there are not enough golfers," said DeCunha. "We don't want to be there so we are trying to anticipate some of the issues that cause them to be there. We're trying to think outside the box. And you have to build what the market wants."

To that end, DeCunha and Danoff will be asking potential golfers what exactly they would like to see in their course, including the name.

More traps? Fewer traps? Big traps? Small traps? Lots of water? Wide fairways? Big greens? Small greens? Soon you'll be able to go to http://www.namethecourse.com/ and tell them what you think, as well as enter a naming contest and pose questions to DeCunha and Danoff.

"One of the biggest headaches we had at Royal Ontario was pace of play," said DeCunha. "People are tired of five- and six-hour rounds and often that's because of tournaments. So maybe we should just eliminate tournaments altogether and have it as a player's golf course."

That's another question they'll be asking on their website.

Although the site is 77 hectares, the golf course will only occupy about 65.

"Parts of the south end of the property are forested and environmentally sensitive areas and we're very keen to work with the conservation authority to create an eco-friendly golf course," said DeCunha.

"In the original plans for the golf course from Environs Nursery, they had gone to the Ontario Municipal Board and had been given approval to build 27 holes. But that could only be accommodated by cutting into the forested area and the swamp land.

"We've pulled our 18-hole golf course out of all forested areas."

gMcKay@thespec.com

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