Fore! No More

Here’s a new genre of abandoned for BIGDoer.com, a disused golf course. It’s the first we’ve ever explored. Located deep inside the city of Calgary, the facility, the Highland Golf Course, recently closed down, the land having been sold and now slated for redevelopment. The former links, the rough, the greens, bunkers, hazards and fairways it’s expected will be transformed into a residential neighbourhood, new housing for an ever growing city.

Opened in 1965, the course is located in the north half of Calgary and was owned by the city (a reader says otherwise – scroll down to comments to see what he has to say). With only nine tight holes (2000-ish yards, par 31 or 33 depending on the source), the place never catered to the serious player but more so to beginners, less causal users and the budget minded. There was no real clubhouse to speak of, no caddies, no carts, reservations weren’t always necessary…you get the picture. It was just cheap easy fun. There was also a driving range on site.

Fore! No More. Written & photographed by Chris Doering & Connie Biggart.

Located in a low-lying gently-sloped hollow the L-shaped course, a few blocks in area, has always been completely surrounded by housing, With this close proximity, I wonder how many errant balls resulted in broken windows and dented car hoods? Tall fences were put up in places but I bet they didn’t stop all the ones that got away.

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Scroll down for photos and to comment ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Underutilized, not making any real money and badly in need of a facelift (near the end it was a bit of a dump), the place was closed down a few years back and the land sold. Development is planned but nothing yet has happened just yet. The process is never quick however – there’s the usual studies which take time, and so on, and no doubt with the economy in the crapper hasn’t helped things either. Still, it’s only a matter of time before the old golf course is no more. With that in mind, we were invited by the developer to the grounds to catch it before it’s gone. Of course, it sounds interesting!

Almost everything is still pretty much in place on the course. With a good mowing you could probably even play a round. The only building on site, the “clubhouse”, is boarded up tight. The rest of the land is pretty much untouched, the layout of each hole is still quite obvious. Some trees have been damaged by storms or snow, and in a few places blown in garbage has accumulated. A few people, it looks like, have used a place as a dumping ground.

The land is used by locals to walk their dogs. Even when operating, the course was always used, unofficially that is, as a park of sorts during off hours or off season. There are many places where there is no fencing at all allowing one easy access. Sloping land here is used as toboggan runs when there is sufficient snow.

Walking around it’s a bit eerie. It was just too quiet. At any time we expected a ball to go whizzing by. Was that a plaid-pants wearing ghost of a long dead golfer? Or just our overactive imagination? Soon, if plans go ahead, the silence will be broken by the din of heavy machinery tearing the place a new one.

This author has seen the plans for the land to be known as the Highland Village Green. There will be a new road running roughly down the centre, flanked by condo type buildings on either side, mixed low rises and some retail development. There would be a good bit of green space too. Of course, many would love to see the golf course converted to a park, not a hard thing to do since it’s almost that already, it’s got all the trees and grass needed.

The loss of the Highland Golf venue, even if it was less than prime, is no doubt a blow to the golfing community, especially those who don’t like the expense or the snooty “country club” type atmosphere of most other courses in town.

Fore!: shouted as a warning to other players in the area that a ball has been struck and may be headed their way. In other words – watch out! The origins of the word is open to debate, several theories are given, not that it really matters that much here. It’s been used since the 1800s. In movies and TV it’s always used in golf scenes, so much so it’s become an overused cliche. In real life it’s not used nearly as much. I’ve never heard it said while playing. Of course, we don’t get out to the links that much.

More Calgary…
Industrial Park Living.
Eight Houses.
Blackfoot Farmer’s Market.
The (Big Yellow) Enoch Sales house.

If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us!

Date: February, 2016.
Location: Calgary, AB.
Article references: Maple Projects Inc, City of Calgary.
BIGDoer.com visited this site with permission.

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Abandoned Golf Course

A closed golf course in Calgary.

Disused golf course

The land is slated for redevelopment (housing).

Golf Course Calgary

It’s nine holes long – view from a tee.

Golf Course in Calgary

Tall fences (left) help protect neighbouring homes from errant balls.

Calgary Golf Course

Many trees here have been damaged by storms.

City of Calgary Golf

View from another tee-off.

Mid-1960s Chevrolet Truck

Distraction: a mid-60s Chevrolet Truck seen in a nearby alley.

Highland Golf Club

The “clubhouse”.

Gold Course putting green

A practice green?

Highland Course driving range

View from the driving range.

Highland Golf Course

The course dates from the 1960s and closed a few years back.

Highland Golf Course Calgary

There might soon be condos here.

Abandoned Golf Course Calgary

A weather-beaten bench.

Disused Golf Course Calgary

Looking down a fairway.

22 responses

  1. Sean Banting says:

    Hey Chris, your back story is incorrect on this old course…

    It wasn’t​ a city course, it was private, and was actually quite thriving 30ish years ago. The clubhouse was in use, sports were on the fuzzy big screen tv,and the food was great!

    I’m not sure all the details of the deterioration, but at some point things started to slide and at some point the guy that owned the course died & it passed down to his kids who then let it fall completely into disrepair… Perhaps because they wanted simply to sell the land and had no interest in the course? For whatever reason the clubhouse had long been closed & even the driving range had been closed for the last several years of operation (and driving ranges are easy money for golf courses!)

    Anyways, lots of good memories golfing with my dad there… Sad to see it gone.

    • Thanks for visiting our site. The city insists is was theirs. The developer who allowed us in seemed to agree with that too. We spoke with both. Odd indeed. This invites further research. In the meantime, I’ve made note of your comment in the text of the article. We’re open minded here.

      • Someone says:

        Finding this conversation really interesting! I would be happy to provide more research locals have done on the subject. Also missing from your piece is the fact that a creek runs through the property. Would be happy to revisit with you.

        • Sure, let’s do it. Private message us and we’ll join you in a walk about, cameras in hand. We did know there was a creek but since we didn’t photograph (heck, I’m not sure we even saw it), we elected to not make mention of it.

      • Bruce says:

        (In regard to Dave McVee’s post)
        I think you are talking about the Addison family. They also owned the Royal Wayne motel that has also been sold.Royal and Wayne were the boys names. Wayne was a actor in Hawaii Wayne ran the business. They also owned a big ranch near highway 40 west of Longview. The Dad was always a great man with me.

  2. Brandon says:

    I used to live not far away while in college. My roommates and myself would often go to the driving range with a couple buckets of balls for some after class fun, especially when they sent their rickety old golf ball collecting tractor. Good memories here.

    • Oh yeah, hitting a bucket of balls. A right of passage. Everyone tried to nail the ball-collecting tractor! No matter what course. We used to too at ours. Thanks for commenting.

  3. Ken Baker says:

    (via Facebook)
    I used to golf there when I was a kid. Last time I was there was October 12, 2001 or 2002 prior to the golf course shutting down. Had some great rounds of golf with my dad there.

  4. KA Zuk says:

    Sadly a favorite of mine is gone.

  5. David Stevens says:

    (via Facebook)
    That course was great! My dad and I golfed there a couple times and I almost got a hole in one on hole 6.

  6. Shirley Schmaltz says:

    (via Facebook)
    I loved that course Golfed with the Ladies league for several years.

  7. Glenda Latham says:

    I used to enjoy doing 9 holes there.

  8. Ken Martin says:

    Too bad it closed. One of the first courses I learned to play on.

  9. Lara Nicholson says:

    When my parents played, the staff at the pro shop would let me collect the loose golf balls from the floor and let me take a bucket out to the driving range! It was awesome!

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