At least one U.S. seaside golf destination is looking to take the sting off the loonie lunacy.
Ocean City, one of the travel destinations with a booth at the Ottawa-Gatineau GolfExpo at the EY Centre on Friday and Saturday, is offering what it calls Pricing Close to Par for gBoolfers during the spring and fall seasons. Basically, the destination (OceanCityGolf.com) has chopped 25 per cent off its rates so Canadians can experience nationally-ranked (by Golf Digest and Golf Magazine) championship courses. Per-person rates for five nights and four rounds of golf start at $242 U.S. (25 per cent less than what Americans pay) the rest of March, then $276 in April, $361 in May, $354 in September, $260 in October and $220 in November.
“We realized the issue with the exchange, we realize people want to travel south to play golf,” Ocean City Golf Getaway COO Walter Brooks said Friday. “So, for the second straight year, we’ve addressed the issue by absorbing some of the costs involved with the exchange.”
At a time when many golfers make the 16-plus-hour drive to Myrtle Beach, S.C., Ocean City, which is in Maryland, is about half the distance.
“We’re 8 1/2 hours from Ottawa,” Brooks said. “It’s championship coastal golf, with renowned architects like Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Arthur Hills. Our season is March-November. Our courses are open. They’re cutting grass; that’s how warm it has been. In March, we’re looking at an average of 60 (F), in the ’70s in April and 80s in May. It’s really consistent through our Thanksgiving, the end of November, which would still be 65, 70 degrees.”
Beside the 17 championship golf courses, Ocean City has plenty of accommodation options, a great selection of restaurants, eight miles of nightclubs, an outlet mall, 10 miles of beautiful beaches and a three-mile boardwalk. It’s a happening family place in the summer, with its population rocketing from 10,000 year-round residents to nearly 400,000 between Memorial Day in late May and Labour Day in early September. With that, the cost of hotel rooms also get bumped substantially, making the spring and fall seasons ideal for stay-and-play golf packages.
“Ocean City is a total package,” Brooks said. “It’s a great area. Ocean City was just ranked 10th-best beach in the U.S. by Trip Advisor. We add value to our golf packages. We host happy hours one night a week that includes alcohol and appetizers.”
A GREAT SHOW: The Ottawa-Gatineau Golf Expo will be open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. There are equipment testing areas for Callaway, Cobra Puma, PING, TaylorMade, Cleveland/Srixon and Tour Edge. The first 100 juniors to visit the show will each receive a free golf club. Younger folks can spend time in the Kid’s Zone, which offers instruction, games and competition. For the older folks, there’s free beer sampling from craft brewers including Kichesippi, Big Rig, Triple Bogey, Tuque de Broue and Stray Dog.
Greg Chambers, regional director for the National Golf Course Owners Association Canada, explained: “We want lots of people to show up. What I’m looking for is the people who don’t golf. We’ve got curling, we’ve got beer sampling, we’ve got seminar stage teaching, and we want the people who golf a lot. They can get different green-fee packages and destination packages. We also want the private-course golfers. They’ve been left out. We want them to come out and try out the newest, greatest clubs and everything else we have to offer. It’s not the old days, where golfers would show up, grab all the leaflets and fill in emails for draws. If you go to any booth now, almost every golf course has a deal on something, like a show special.
“It’s not the Masters music, that’s the big lead-in to the golf season. But we want to get people thinking about golf just before courses open.”
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: If you’re at the golf show, there are plenty of golf travel bargains to be found. Santee, S.C., (it has been called America’s Value Golf Destination; less than a 3-wood off I-95 is what they advertise), is offering a deal through the end of May with five nights at Historic Clark’s Inn and Restaurant, five round of golf and a southern-cooked-to-order breakfast each day for $555 (it’s more than $100 off the regular price; ask for the Canada Show Special at ClarksGolfPackages.com) … Gendron Golf (gendrongolf.com) is offering packages including Mexico’s all-inclusive Moon Palace ($2,295, Nov. 1-8), a week in Tucson (between Oct. 20-Dec. 15 from $1,595 for a two-bedroom condo with four beds) and maybe best of all a 14-night, seven-golf-round trip to Costa del Sol, Spain either Oct. 4-19 or 9-24, starting at $2,395 for quad occupancy. (That trip includes a flight out of Montreal and 14 buffet breakfasts to go along with the golf and mid-sized car rental).
ONE-STOP SHOPPING: Retailers were busy at the show. Cambridge Golf and Fashions’ Jeff Williamson said ECCO golf shoes were selling “like crazy.” Shoes that normally range from $229-$309 were selling for $105 and $115. “We have people come here right away because they bought some last year or the year before and they know we have the best deals when it comes to ECCO shoes. Everything else, we just made it simple. All the men’s pants, all the men’s shorts, we just made it $35. Hard goods, last year’s drivers — Mizuno, Srixon, TaylorMade, all brand new — they’re all like 50 per cent off or more. We slash them because we have all the new stuff in.”
Twitter: @TimCBaines