Wolf Creek Golf Resort in Ponoka, Alberta. (GolfNorth)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

tee time

Wolf Creek Golf Resort finds new ownership, 2023 to be business as usual

Mar 21, 2023 | 2:30 PM

A central Alberta golf destination which went into receivership last October has new owners.

Ontario-based GolfNorth has acquired Ponoka’s Wolf Creek Golf Resort as its 40th property, and first in Alberta. It also operates one in Nova Scotia, two in B.C. and 36 in Ontario.

Doug Breen, Regional Vice President and Chief Agronomist, couldn’t disclose the sale price, but shares that the purchase closed on March 15.

“What we look for in acquiring courses are ones that are underperforming or unrecognized, so in a situation like this where each of the courses at Wolf Creek are fantastic and it’s a great design, but maybe it was in trouble and available, and needs more rounds played, that’s where we can come in,” says Breen.

“These are courses we can do things with, they’ve got a ton of potential, and we’re quite confident we can bring people in who haven’t seen it before, in turn giving a boost to local tourism. The staff are really great there and we’re going to try helping them take it to the next level.”

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Breen clarifies there will be no layoffs. He also adds that the RV park is included in the purchase. In that respect, memberships and already booked tournaments and other events, as well as RV park bookings, will all be honoured.

Breen admits there won’t be much change in year one, as they want to observe and assess how the course operates before making hasty decisions.

He says time and money will be spent on making the courses all they can be.

According to Breen, there are three things that won’t happen: prices going sky high, having 100 per cent public play with no members, and not having tournaments.

It’s all about balance when making things with a golf resort work economically, he says, adding that it includes being involved in community.

“This is exactly what we deal with: rural courses that the locals are extremely proud of, and rightly so, and at the same time you want to be able to have access for locals while bringing in other people. There are a lot of people outside the immediate area who have no idea how great those courses are,” says Breen.

“Just going on reputation, and how many people have played it, online and verbal feedback, and the fact the Canadian Tour stopped there for many years, people in Ontario, for example, will travel if they think there’s a good course out there to go to.”

Breen says they’ve accomplished the same with their very rural course, Keltic Lodge, in Ingonish Beach, Nova Scotia.

“We know that if we can get people to go there, we can get them to go to Alberta. We want to put this resort back on the map.

The upcoming season is anticipated to be business as usual with opening day dependent on weather.

Wolf Creek Golf Resort’s two Rod Whitman-designed courses were ranked #52 and #67 on last summer’s ScoreGolf Top 100.