Lakewood GR Expanding to 18 Holes

By Jim Claggett

HOLES

When you have a dream in your head sometimes it’s just a matter of time and good timing in order to bring it to fruition.

In the case of Lakewood Golf Resort just north of Sylvan Lake, the plan to expand from nine holes to 18 is quickly becoming a reality.

“When the course owner Darcy Carruthers hired me back in 2007, one of the main focuses was to free up his time, have somebody run the operation ...so he could focus on the golf course," said head professional Scott Bergdahl.

Lakewood has been on the Alberta golf map since 1967 as a nine-hole track with an RV park and the footprint has been essentially the same over the years. There was a redesign done in 2004 by Puddicombe Golf Design and Construction, said Bergdahl. Now a major new addition is in motion as dirt has been moved to add another nine holes and more RV space. “We built our whole reputation and our clientele based on the nine-hole golfer. So, the intention is to keep those ninehole golfers while we expand to 18 holes,” he said.

This means players will have membership options of playing one of the nines or taking on the entire 18-hole layout. This will be something new for the loyal patrons of Lakewood. If someone wants to experience only the new nine holes , there is a plan for that as well.

“Our plan will be to alternate our first-tee starting from month to month so that both our nine-hole member leagues and our green fee players get the chance to play both sides,” said Bergdahl.

The RV component is a huge part of Lakewood’s DNA. The RV park expansion will more than double with the addition of 143 new sites, bringing the total up to 253. Bergdahl says Lakewood really is its own community, one which drives the golf course.

“Our member play now exceeds our public play. Before we had 60 percent public play and 40 percent members. Now we’re 55 (members) to 45 (public), so we now need to do things for our community members,” such as having on-site concerts or special memberonly events throughout the year.

“We have to find a balance to take care of our public which is very important to us as well as the community we have that has grown,” he said.

Bergdahl says the membership for the most part have embraced this expansion. “Whether they’re a nine-hole golfer or an 18-hole golfer, it really doesn’t matter. They’re all super excited about it. We’re taking everybody along with us on this journey because everybody helped us build it.”

In his 30 years as a golf professional Bergdahl says this is ground-breaking for him to be a part of a major expansion project. He is as excited as someone might be when getting news of a first grandchild or maybe purchasing a new car.

“I’m going to say it has that new car smell,” said Bergdahl. “It’s pretty exciting to know that in about a year and a half people will be on the golf course playing.”

View from above existing hole 7 to new #2 tee, # 16 green and on the left side #14 tee box