July of 1998 will certainly go down in Prince Edward Island golfing annals as an exceptional month in many ways. Big-name golfing celebrities appeared at the Links at Crowbush for the highly promoted Skins Game, construction began on a second set of 18 holes at Brudenell and Belvedere reopened after a major renovation. But perhaps most significantly from an economic standpoint, the province recorded its first "million-dollar month" in golf history.
"July, 1998 proved to be an excellent month for Island golf courses," said Kevin MacAdam, Minister of Tourism and Fisheries. "Revenue generated by the three provincial courses topped $1 million in July, a significant increase over 1997 revenues.
In general, provincial courses have been making a profit, but the widespread growing interest in the game of golf, coupled with the excitement generated by the big-name celebrities at the Skins Game helped to attract extra attention to the courses from both Islanders and tourists.
"Revenues are up at all three provincial courses of Brudenell, Crowbush Cove and Mill River," said Frank Butler, Deputy Minister of Fisheries and Tourism and President of Golf Links PEI. "The growth in interest in the game of golf appears to be steady for the foreseeable future and we are certainly looking forward to the completion of the 18-hole expansion at Brudenell River."
The private sector courses are enjoying much the same level of interest and John Langdale, owner of Rustico Golf Resort confirms that Island golf is enjoying a very good year. "July was a bumper month without a doubt. At Rustico Resort, we had our best month ever," says Langdale. "For sure the Skins Game meant extra business for all the courses. We found that our afternoons were especially busy during the Skins week and we recorded our all-time record day in July of this year."
"It seems that the game of golf is here to stay in PEI," says Minister MacAdam. "We are very pleased with the recent growth in both golf and tourism revenues, and fully expect this trend to continue into the next century."