Speak up for golf course

Five dollar golf. That is what hundreds of working-class and lower income kids are paying to enjoy hours of outdoor fun on municipal golf courses in cities like Spokane, Vancouver, Burnaby and Calgary (as of next month).

(Kelowna) could go one step further and create the Kelowna Springs Junior Golf Club, where juniors have priority when booking start times daily. Combine that with all the programs (lessons, academies, free clubs, tournaments and more) that those other cities have for kids, aged seven and up and (the city) would have something unique.

But no, not Kelowna. Why? Because people won’t speak up and tell the city a permanent municipal golf course would be great for kids, young adults and young families.

Kelowna’s mayor and city councillors are afraid to stand up to (those) pushing the “destruction” of Kelowna Springs Golf Course (and an important flood plain) for three years, encouraging a developer to plow it up for warehouses. The city of Kelowna never made a serious offer to buy the property and just needs to expropriate it.

Service groups that support the preservation of the green space don’t want to speak up for some fear of confronting city hall, saying the issue is political. That’s not correct. The issue is to save a floodplain that protects the surrounding farms, the airport and enhance a great golf facility.

Prominent local residents say it’s political. Again not true. Agencies that support youth absolutely want kids to have such a facility but fear losing funding if they challenge city hall.

Don Henderson, Kelowna