Shadow Ridge Golf Club is celebrating 30 years of the green game, and word on the tees . . . is that the course has never been better
“The greens are lush, the fairways are lush, it’s a great walk in the park out there,” Shadow Ridge general manager James Presnail said.
However, even though Shadow Ridge opened its fairways in 1988, Tom Monaghan of Monaghan Golf Group, which operates the club, says the course is fighting two big misconceptions.
The No. 1 misconception: “That we’re under water,” Monaghan said.
No, Shadow Ridge is not under water. It is under the occasional airplane from the neighbouring Kelowna Airport, and it is infamous for its ‘water hazards,’ as the course floods year after year.
“We did have a big flood in 2017 and it impacted the golf course,” said Monaghan.
But a lot of flood mitigation work has been done recently along Scotty Creek and Mill Creek, which run through the course, to hopefully lessen the impact of any future flooding.
The second big misconception: “That we are closed,” said Monaghan.
No, Shadow Ridge is open for business and has been, even though the City of Kelowna bought the property two years ago.
“We felt that this piece of land, in terms of insuring the future growth of the airport for future generations, that we get and acquire this land,” Kelowna Airport Director Sam Samaddar said.
So right now, the only thing Shadow Ridge is in, is the shadow of is airport expansion
Today, the club held a press conference to help celebrate Shadow Ridge’s three decades of history.
Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran was on hand to tee it up.
“My family used to own part of the property, and so I can remember being out here with my grandfather,” said Basran.
Naturally, Basran enjoys playing a round or two at Shadow Ridge.
“I love the fact that this course is easily walkable and then the fact that you get to see planes take off and land is pretty unique,” said Basran.
As for just how long you’ll be able to enjoy that unique Shadow Ridge experience? Monaghan Golf Group still has three more years on its city contract to operate the course.
But beyond that, Kelowna city officials won’t say what course airport expansion could take, or whether airport expansion could take the course.