Sagebrush

[lagacea]

Has anyone heard anything recently about the status of Sagebrush? It's one of my bucket list courses to play but the most recent info I can find is from 2017. Would be a shame to see such a nice looking course continue to lay dormant.

[Mcgeeno]

I think the owner was battling fraud charges in 2018-2019 and everything is still in limbo.

 

I was lucky enough to play it about 5 years ago.

 

My guess is that it will never open again.

[ryu123]

Mcgeeno is correct. The land is tied up in litigation with one of its owners facing a trial in Los Angeles on fraud charges. It's a mess.

[lagacea]

I suspect you're correct, but I can dream can't I. Last I read was that they were working on the course and hoping to re-open in 2019. Obviously that didn't happen and the fraud charges have derailed things. I wonder if the property can sell in the meantime, or if all the legal proceedings must play out first.

[ryu123]

Update: apparently Sagebrush has been sold recently & may open again. Since the private club model didn’t work, a daily fee venture seems logical.

The course played firm & fast (like a links) with the biggest greens outside of Old Macdonald and a really fun mountainside routing.

[lagacea]

That's fantastic news, and hopefully it's true. I'll make sure to get down there when, and if it re-opens.

[Mcgeeno]

It was a fun course.

 

What sticks out most in my mind was that the greens were massive and there were no official tee boxes. If I remember correctly the lowest score on the hole was able to choose where you teed off within a certain range. It was odd. No yardage markers either.

 

There were like 8 guys who stopped their round and were fishing on I believe the 12th hole pond? It was surreal haha.

 

At the time I went they were letting out a max of like 12 groups per day. You needed a code at the front gate to get in. You barely even see any other golfers out there.

[duffer987]

Funnily enough streetview from Oct '18 shows the for sale sign - "Unique opportunity" ;-)

And satellite view is promising, it's definitely not at NLE-levels yet. But ya I wouldn't plan anything around it being open and maybe if you're in the neighbourhood some time and it is back up and running you're in luck.

[golfortennis]

Was it Sagebrush Zokol was involved in? Hopefully he didn't lose his shirt in the owner's difficulties.

[lagacea]

I don't know what NLE means, and I'm not planning any trips that way in the near future, but it would be great to see such a highly praised track re-open.

[duffer987]

No Longer Exists. Agreed, it's a model that has worked South of the border, but the timing, internal-wranglings, and location have all seemingly conspired against it, in a regular cadence of - oh ffs now what.

 

[2bGood]

I had a few fun weekends there over the years. A really great place to go with some buddies, but we all expected each time we played would be our last as the business model made no sense (and no cents). Many times we were the only 4 golfers on the property and there would be 6 or 7 people working. Given that cost was very reasonable as meals, carts, unlimited golf & fishing and hotel rooms were included - I had no idea how they could turn a profit.

Edited March 5, 2021 by 2bGood

[lagacea]

Well hopefully it re-opens. Sounds like it needs a new business model to be successful. I'm also hoping I can get over to Glen Abbey before it shuts down, as that seems pretty inevitable I'd say.

[Shushwap]

Sagebrush was open in 2020.. played tobiano in September and the starter mentioned he played there the week before..

I was in my local golf shop today and the young girl behind the counter said she played a university tournament there in 2020.. 

Curious to see if they open it to public play in 2021 

[lagacea]

On 11/21/2020 at 9:57 PM, Shushwap said:

Sagebrush was open in 2020.. played tobiano in September and the starter mentioned he played there the week before..

I was in my local golf shop today and the young girl behind the counter said she played a university tournament there in 2020.. 

Curious to see if they open it to public play in 2021 

Thats very interesting to hear.  I plan on playing a few rounds around Kamloops/Vernon this summer.  If Sagebrush is open to public I may have to rip over there as well.

[Shushwap]

41 minutes ago, lagacea said:

Thats very interesting to hear.  I plan on playing a few rounds around Kamloops/Vernon this summer.  If Sagebrush is open to public I may have to rip over there as well.

There still doesn't seem to be anything posted publicly about it... fingers crossed as I would love to play there  in 21 as well 

Enjoy the area we have plenty of great tracks in the kamloops and  Vernon area 

[Shushwap]

Opening in 21 

http://britishcolumbiagolf.org/uncategorized/4638-sagebrush-gets-a-new-lease-on-life

[Strategery]

26 minutes ago, Shushwap said:

Opening in 21 

http://britishcolumbiagolf.org/uncategorized/4638-sagebrush-gets-a-new-lease-on-life

 

Never played it but looks like a great course. They are going to need a magical, almost mythical, model to survive. The course is in the middle of nowhere and their uber-expensive, golf-community, elitist experience failed miserably the first time. I think it will have to be a solid upscale but not super-pricey daily fee facility.

Could they be the next Cabot?

[Shushwap]

1 hour ago, Strategery said:

 

Never played it but looks like a great course. They are going to need a magical, almost mythical, model to survive. The course is in the middle of nowhere and their uber-expensive, golf-community, elitist experience failed miserably the first time. I think it will have to be a solid upscale but not super-pricey daily fee facility.

Could they be the next Cabot?

I think now is the time to open a course with a golf boom going on... Its only a hour from Kamloops and if the old reviews are anything close to what they were... i think they will be ok... As long as they dont price themselves as a predator ridge at $200 a round

I talked to a few people that played there last year and it was in pretty decent shape

[Chanceman]

Excellent news. Sagebrush will be an excellent place to stop en route to Banff being 3 hours drive from Vancouver, stop overnight, then a further 3 hours to Revelstoke where the other new course is being built by the Cabot people. That trip is very long so great to be able to break it up.

[ryu123]

Shuswap,   when we last played there 2 years before it closed, it was $225 (Cdn) per player for all day golf, lunch & powercart.    It wasn’t walkable for most people like us although one day we saw some young guys hoofing it.   (A rumour floating at the time was NHLer Jarome Iginla jogged the course.)

 

 We paid for our hotel in Merritt because the cabins weren’t finished.

 

We all thought $225 was reasonable, but as 2bGood noted some days we were the only group on the property. 

 

[Shushwap]

On 3/5/2021 at 6:08 AM, ryu123 said:

Shuswap,   when we last played there 2 years before it closed, it was $225 (Cdn) per player for all day golf, lunch & powercart.    It wasn’t walkable for most people like us although one day we saw some young guys hoofing it.   (A rumour floating at the time was NHLer Jarome Iginla jogged the course.)

 

 We paid for our hotel in Merritt because the cabins weren’t finished.

 

We all thought $225 was reasonable, but as 2bGood noted some days we were the only group on the property. 

 

Curious to see if they keep that price point or go with something closer to tobiano pricing.. I am not sure what there pricing is this year.. somewhere around the 150 mark would be my guess 

[Golfnuck]

Agreed this is the best time to re-open.

 

People will have no problem paying $250 to $300 per round (with cart).

 

The question for me do they have deep enough pockets to set up the course properly to support an ask of $250 to $300 a round.

 

There is a stupid amount of money floating around.

 

A buddy of mine just bought a Ferrari 488 for north of $500k and that is not including tax of another $100k.  Dealership would not even haggle one cent.  Take it or leave it.  They will easily sell to someone else if you don't buy it today.

 

Houses with multiple offers as in over 30 of them and more than half without subjects.  Final price is massively over asking.  Funny article in the Financial Post yesterday about how the CMHC was predicting the risk of a housing crash last year and how wrong their so called experts were.  I think the experts should stop pretending they know anything about the housing market. 

 

Great time to start selling residential lots there.  People will pay anything to get property outside of metro areas.

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by Golfnuck

[lagacea]

Well I'm planning to be in the Kamloops area in August, so a trip down might be in order.  Really excited about this news.

[Golfnuck]

Things are moving along.

 

Just found out they have named Randy Smith, our club's former head professional as their new head professional.

 

https://golfnewsnow.ca/industry/people/sagebrush-names-new-head-professional/

 

 

[Shushwap]

Open it up already lol 

I am ready 

[Strategery]

Looks like Sagebrush has reopened. $275/day.

"An immersive boutique golf adventure", according to them.

Good luck, but Merritt/Quilchena is still in the middle of nowhere.

[Shushwap]

40 minutes ago, Strategery said:

Looks like Sagebrush has reopened. $275/day.

"An immersive boutique golf adventure", according to them.

Good luck, but Merritt/Quilchena is still in the middle of nowhere.

If they have any chance to make it happen... Its now with this golf boom going on... Its out of my price range though

[Strategery]

Kelowna to Predator Ridge (Vernon) is 0:45. $150-$200/round and there are specials. Replay is $105 if booked in advance but free if you wing it. PR has 2 great courses + local Vernon residents. PR also has great range, chipping, putting, bar, restaurant and lots of accommodation on site.

 

Kelowna to Sagebrush (Quilchena) is 1:30, or 3:00 from Van. $275/day. Sagebrush has 1 course and no locals play there. They have 2 residences with 8 suites for stay-and-play.

 

How is this going to survive? I might pay $110 twice a year if I could find somebody willing to drive an hour and a half.

[duffer987]

$275 = 2 rounds + a couple things to eat, they've priced it about right IMHO, relative to the current golfing climate. But ya not sure how many people that golf really want to make their seasonal home in Merritt with it's 1 course and nothing else vs Kamloops, Okanagan, or the island. Otherwise they are relying on a lot of folks adding a day to their usual interior golfing weekends.

 

Fair play to them for giving it another go.