When the golf season comes to an end this fall, so too will nearly a century’s worth of golfing tradition in Paris.
The Paris Grand Country Club has been sold. Its new owner plans to turn the 18-hole course into a new housing development.
“I suspected that it was coming; I just figured that we’d have at least another year,” club hospitality manager Helena Stubbs said Thursday.
The course has been in existence since the 1920s. It has more than 150 members, and regularly hosts weddings and other functions.
“It’s a great loss, definitely, for the community,” Stubbs said.
Golfers who took to the links Thursday were similarly disappointed.
“I think it’s sad. We need golf courses in Paris,” said Bill Robb.
The course has been owned and operated by GolfNorth, which runs dozens of courses in Ontario.
GolfNorth chief operating officer Mike Garside calls the sale a “business decision,” calling the 50-acre site ideal for developers.
“We’re sitting on a lot of real estate,” he says.
“The way the housing industry is these days, it’s inevitable that there’s going to be golf courses like this that close down.”
A mix of housing types is expected to be built on the course, including condos and single-family homes.
Realtor Brian Stolp says there is an appetite in Paris for more housing – particularly condos for baby boomers who might be looking to downsize.
“That’s something that people are generally looking for,” he says.
Approximately 50 people work at the Paris Grand Country Club. Some of them are expected to be transferred to other GolfNorth courses.
With reporting by Tina Yazdani
