"Prestige Players Club" opens in Toronto

Though it has already been posted on this blog last month, today was the official opening of the Prestige Players Club in Toronto, a new concept that includes Angus Glen (which held the 2002 Canadian Open), The Club at Bond Head and Taboo.

The idea is to take public golf to semi-private model, allowing 1,000 players to "join" the three clubs for $5,000 -- without an initiation. All three are top tier courses -- though the access might be an issue for players joining the "club."

Nonetheless, it is an interesting model -- one that might become more common as courses come under financial pressure across North America. After all, who has $60,000 to join a club -- and then another $5,000 in fees each year?
This partnering arrangement would allow clubs to fill rounds and generate revenue from the start of the year -- and big factor in balancing their books.

By the way, The Club at Bond Head looks to be a pretty good Michael Hurdzan course -- though most of the design was done by associate Jason Straka. Most interestingly, it will have a caddie program of sorts included in the $200 green fee. I hope it works -- there are only a handful of courses in Canada with caddie programs, all of which are private clubs.