Golf as Land Use: The Case of Edmonton, Alberta
Creators: Kaur, Arshdeep
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2024

<p>Golf is a very land-intensive sport that imposes environmental costs and can have socially exclusionary effects, in contrast to other sports such as tennis or cricket, which only take a fraction of land to meet the goal of active outdoor recreation. The demand for golf is declining and yet many municipalities operate and subsidize this particular sport. In Edmonton, golf courses are a significant land use in the river valley and ravine system. Some of these courses are municipally-owned, but leased to private operators and made available for use to very small numbers of members who pay high fees for playing. The public does not have access to the public land used for golf, even when nearby parks are closed for rehabilitation. Given the presence of many golf courses on private land, and declining interest in the sport, it is questionable whether municipal land should also be used for golf courses. There is a significant opportunity cost to current arrangements; public land used for golf courses cannot be used for parks, other forms of recreation, or housing. This report addresses the following objectives:<br>
• To visualize and quantify the extent of golf courses within the City of Edmonton;<br>
• To calculate the percentage of river valley and ravine system space that is used by golf courses within the City of Edmonton.<br>
The main findings of this report are:<br>
• There are 19 golf courses within the City of Edmonton, of which 13 are privately-owned and six are municipally-owned. Of the six municipally-owned golf courses, three are operated by the city, and three are leased out to third parties.<br>
• The total area of golf courses in the City of Edmonton is 1281 ha, of which 897 ha (72%) is privately owned and 364 ha (28%) is municipally-owned.<br><br>
• To put the 364 ha of municipally owned golf courses in perspective, the University of Alberta’s north campus is 89 ha.  Therefore, their combined land area is four times that of the north campus.<br>
• The Royal Mayfair Golf Club is a privately operated course on 72 ha of municipal land, adjacent to William Hawrelak Park, which occupies 60 ha of municipal land. The park is currently closed for three years of rehabilitation, while the golf club has only 475 members.<br>
• Six golf courses are located within the river valley in the centre of the city, from Royal Mayfair in the west to Highlands in the east.<br><br>
• There are 11 golf courses in Edmonton located within the main river valley area. The total area occupied by these 11 golf courses is 692 ha, which represents over 14% of all land within the river valley system land (4799 ha).<br>
• An additional 2 golf courses with a combined area of 287 ha are located within or immediately adjacent to ravines within the river valley system.  This brings the total land area occupied by golf courses within the river valley system to 980 ha, or over 20% of the total area of this natural resource. <br>
This analysis illustrates that golf courses occupy over a fifth of the prime river valley land and ravine systems. Their impact on the river valley’s ecosystems needs to be considered. Included in the river valley and ravine systems are all six municipally-owned courses, with a total land area of 364 ha. This land is public property, but during golf season it is available only to those playing the sport, whether members of the public who pay green fees, or private members. </p>

<p>This report concludes that there needs to be a bylaw governing the land used by golf courses. The lease agreements for golf courses operated on municipal lands should be made publicly accessible. Rather than outsourcing underperforming golf courses on municipal lands to third parties, I suggest using them for other sports that are more socially inclusive and less land-intensive or reverting the land to open-access parks.</p>