Big changes coming to the Williams Lake Golf Course

A renovation costing more than $300,000 is underway at the Williams Lake Golf & Tennis Club.

For the first time, new additions that will change how the course can be played will be made for the start of next year’s season.

Janna Gertzen, Operations Supervisor at the Club, says new forward tee boxes will be added to 17 of the course’s 18 holes, and will give players up to four tee-off spots to choose from on each hole.

“What we’re going to add is a whole new set of blocks that are meant for some of the shorter hitters, people who are learning, something for juniors to play back to, increased accessibility for people of all ages,” says Gertzen.

“It’s a very exciting, very forward-looking project. This is the first project of this size since all of the initial work for the course was undertaken, that is directly done onto the course itself. It’s the first project that’s going to alter the way the course can be played.”

The new tee boxes will cost $307,000 to complete, and the project is being co-funded by Northern Development Initiative Trust. Northern Development is matching dollar-for-dollar what the Club is putting into the renovation.

Gertzen and the Club hope that the new additions will create a more flexible course routing on what’s considered a course that plays “very long” according to the US Golf Association’s tournament layouts. The US Golf Association, and the British Columbia Golf Association’s layout guidlines, the average forward tee box should be around the 4500 yard mark. At the Williams Lake Golf Course, that mark averages anywhere between 5000 to 5400 yards.

“It is and has been a challenge to set our course up for BC Golf to come in and host tournaments here,” says Gertzen. “So, by adding these new tees, we really do hope to be able to bring in, and attract more high-level events where we’re able to have more flexibility, and be able to meet more requirements for Ladies and Junior tournaments.”

The tee boxes are also being designed and lead by Lobb + Partners, a golf architecture firm based in Whistler, B.C. Over the last couple of years of working together, Gertzen says Lobb + Partners has come up with several “modernizations” that could be applied to the Williams Lake Course, such as changes to the layout and the amount of bunkers along the course. Other options included widening more fairways, removing some very trouble-to-shoot-around [or through] trees, and the overall irrigation systems.

The construction of the new tee boxes is being completed by Landscapes Unlimited Golf & Fields.

The new tee boxes are being co-funded by the Northern Development Initiative Trust, which is matching dollar-for-dollar the amount of money the Golf & Tennis Club is putting into the project.

Which Gertzen adds that a “huge thank you” needs to go out to the Club’s members.

“In the past five years, our membership has doubled, which is partially a huge reason that allows us to take this project on. The more we have, the more we can give back to our members and invest back in them and our course. It really is thanks to them that we can do all of this.”

The Williams Lake Golf Course will remain open and playable the entire time the renovations are being constructed.

The Williams Lake Golf & Tennis Club is also celebrating its 80th Anniversary in the community. To celebrate the occasion, the Golf & Tennis Club has brought back its original fox logo, with some memorabilia and merchandise people can purchase.