Club President Andrew Rowat explained that they had been discussing what to do with the squash court that’s attached to the club, since it saw very little use in the past few years. They had originally discussed . . .

a private venture between a group of golfers at the club to purchase a lower-end simulator, but once they found out about an MRC grant that could cover their costs, they jumped at the opportunity.

“We always joked about what we could do in here, turn it into an extra lounge or storage space, because we love golf we said it’d be great to have a golf simulator,” Rowat said. “Then we never did anything about it, then about a year ago we said we could get a group of private investors together and just buy a much less substantial golf simulator and rent the squash club from the curling club.”

“So the process started in September, [the grant] was approved sometime in November,” explained former president Jeff Russell. “The whole point was … golf has never been this popular since Tiger [Woods] first came out. With COVID this year it was one of the few safe sports and with seniors and everyone not going south this year, it would be a safe activity that we were going to be able to do because we still had all the fixed costs at the club to pay this year. … We had a pretty good idea that we weren’t opening this year, the curling side, so this was going to give us another revenue stream.”

The grant from the MRC totalled just under $52,000, and the machine they purchased is top of the line according to Rowat. It displays all kinds of data about the player’s game, from the angle of their club face to their swing path. A small reflective sticker applied to the ball helps the high-speed cameras track the path and display it on the screen via a powerful projector. A large foam pad sits behind the screen to absorb the impact from the balls.

“It’s got a very good driving range, like practice ability to help your golf game, maybe better than a real outdoor driving range,” Rowat said, emphasizing the wide range of real-time feedback.

Russell said that as soon as the lockdown restrictions are lifted, they will able to open their doors. He said that under red zone restrictions, they would have been able to offer tee times to pairs of people or groups from within the same family bubble. If the region goes back to an orange zone, they will be able to open the bar and host slightly larger groups.

“Lots of people are eager, we have over 150 hours pre-sold,” he said. “It’s going to be able to get us in the black for the year, and then in future years when the curling club’s open and there’s people here every day, seven days a week, it will be a fun atmosphere.”

In addition to golf, there is the possibility of adding other games such as archery, bowling or hunting to broaden the customer base to children’s parties and the like. Russell said that they would be starting off with low prices per hour, but could adjust the rates down the road.

“This year we’re just trying to get it going, we’re looking at around $25 an hour, demand will dictate in the future, but we just want to get people out and doing stuff this year. We’re not trying to gouge anyone. The MRC has helped us get this project together, so for the curling club, except for the lights and heat, it’s going to be 100 per cent revenue for the curling club.”

Golfers can book a time on the simulator at shawville.hdgolf.com.

Disclosure: the author of this piece is a member of the curling club’s board of directors.

Register or subscribe to read this content

Thanks for stopping by! This article is available to readers who have created a free account or who subscribe to The Equity.

When you register for free with your email, you get access to a limited number of stories at no cost. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to everything we publish—and directly support quality local journalism here in the Pontiac.

Register or Subscribe Today!