By NICK STEWART
With nearly $600,000 worth of renovations underway, the clubhouse at the Parry Sound Golf and Country Club may soon seem unfamiliar to returning duffers who complete a long day on the 18-hole course.
“Twenty-three years ago, when we moved from a nine-hole course to an 18-hole course, they built a clubhouse that was good for the 10,000 to 15,000 rounds a year that the members play,” says Dave Garagan, treasurer, and chair of the renovation expansion board.
“Now, we do 23,000 to 28,000 rounds a year, depending on the weather, so we’ve outgrown what the course was meant to be. There’s no way the club could go forward with the clubhouse we had, so it’s a huge improvement.”
Based on a design by Barrie’s Davenport Architecture, the clubhouse is being renovated by local contractor Morgan Construction and is slated to be completed by June.
Located off hole 18 of the Thomas McBroom-designed course, the 8,000-square-foot main floor is being modified to include bag storage for members, as well as renovations to the pro shop. The shop, which is being increased from 300 square feet to 800 square feet, will also feature a workroom for re-shafting and re-gripping clubs.
The project will also add a second floor to the facility to accommodate a boardroom, supply room and several offices. Along with the introduction of insulation into the facility, these renovations will allow administrative workers and the club pro alike to work in the building throughout the year, rather than being forced to work from their homes during the winter months.
“The view from the top floor, the office facing the boardroom, is phenomenal. It’s directly up hole 9’s fairway, and right over hole 18’s green, so I know there’s going to be some people sneaking up there to watch them, me being one of them.”
Garagan says that while such additions are important, the most significant change to the building is in the kitchen area, which is being modified to include a walk-in freezer as well as a back-loading fridge for the bar.
He says the issue is related not to health and safety, but rather to the improvement of the working environment for the kitchen staff.
“It was just too small,” says Brody Whetham, director of golf operations. “We have some big events where 144 players would come through the door, and they were feeding them out of a small kitchen no bigger than what you’d have at home. Now that they’ve expanded, there’s more room for supplies so you don’t have to go too far to get anything, rather than having to leave to go down to the No Frills.”
Such renovations will also allow the club to create a much more coherent layout for its storage areas. Previously, the club’s limited storage space was scattered throughout the building, increasing service times as staff travel to various areas to retrieve extra stock.
Although the club hosted a gala event for the club’s 75-year anniversary in 2004, the Ontario Junior Girls Championship in 2005, as well as various events attended by up to 180 people, Garagan says an improved service and storage layout will help to make it more feasible to host even bigger events.
Along with a 12-acre practice range constructed four years ago, such changes should also better service visitors to its par 71 course, which Garagan says to be one of the more challenging offerings in Northern Ontario. He singles out hole 11 in particular, which features a fairway reaching a mere 25 yards across at its narrowest point.
“As Brody [Whetham] says, it’s the toughest 6,000 yards you’ll ever play.”
