Woods, Irons & Silver
ClubLink Celebrates 25 Years of “One Membership, More Golf”
By Mike Spry
In a perfect world, you’re not reading this sentence at the office. You’re not skimming through paragraphs sitting in the bleachers while your oldest kid plays soccer. You’re not waiting in a dentist’s chair, passing time at the mechanic’s, killing time in the mall. You’re not distracting yourself from paying bills, or absentmindedly flipping through infinite channels, or trying to forget a rough outing by the Jays’ bullpen. No, in a perfect world –the one born of reverie, of hard work, of deserved paradise – you’re enveloped in these pages in the clubhouse, on the terrace, in the afterglow of a solid round at The Lake Joseph Club. In that world you’re watching the sun set over Muskoka, a nine-iron’s distance from Fairy Lake at Grandview. In that world, you’re in the shadows of the Canadian Shield at Rocky Crest, indulging in post-round cocktail, indulging in what you already know:
The best way to enjoy all golf has to offer,
is with ClubLink.
The Gentleman’s Game’s champions no Abner Doubleday, it celebrates no James Naismith, it claims no monarchal birthright. Golf evolved out of necessity, as man and nature collaborated to write a symphony of their common interests. It is not a battle of man versus nature, but rather the marriage of the two. This is why golf does not claim one origin story, but many – epic narratives from exotic locales and eras: a pastime of 1st century BC Romans; embedded in the history of the Netherlands in 13th-century Loenen aan de Vecht, in the poetry of Jacob van Maerlant’s Boeck Merlijn, on the “greens” of an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in northern Russia; in the tavern culture of what is now Upstate New York; on the rolling thunder of Scottish landscape.
These fables aren’t theories to which we subscribe, but rather versions of history that are embedded in our own mythologies. And whichever narrative lineage wrote its way into your back nine, it finds you here – a cosmopolite in the kingdom of golf’s silver age. The argentate lustre of the game’s current jubilee is reflected in the celebration of ClubLink’s Silver Anniversary. The King City-based purveyor of golf experiences is the largest owner and operator of golf courses in Canada, a crown of responsibility that ClubLink relishes. Twenty-five years ago the concept of reciprocal play was born when the evolutionary game’s transcendent growth demanded an evolved idea of the “golf club”. “One Membership, More Golf” became not just a concept, but a credo, the dogmatic base upon which golfers could explore a multitude of experiences. If golf is born of narrative necessity and the marriage of man and nature, then ClubLink is the portal through which each of us becomes the protagonist in our golfing legend.
ClubLink’s revolutionary approach to membership contributed to the game’s popularity in Canada, as its early years coincided with an explosive growth in the game’s adoration and adoption. But more important than the courses themselves was the innovative ClubLink membership which allowed golfers of all ages, abilities, and aspirations to curate their own tours; to celebrate spring at Greystone, open summer at Cherry Downs, spend Labour Day at Emerald Hills, and fight off the promise of winter at Le Fontainebleau. Later, a country of snowbirds could extend their tours to year-round affairs, as ClubLink added Floridian courses to its fold.
Today, ClubLink is Canada’s preeminent facilitator of the sport, offering “the benefits of a traditional private club, with the additional benefit of reciprocal access to more than 50 championship golf courses. Members may also take advantage of ClubCorp Signature Gold Unlimited benefits and enjoy access to more than 300 golf, business and athletic clubs within the worldwide ClubCorp network.” ClubLink allows its members to carve out their own piece of the game’s narrative, and indulge in the ultimate conception of man and nature, the perfect conjugation of sport and splendour, to interact with and challenge landscape and environment as enthusiasts have done for centuries.
But those of us who consider golf an actual part of our family understand that the game is more than tee times and bucolic wonder.
Golf has a unique ability to cultivate and contribute to our lives like no other indulgence. Whether you’re looking for a Saturday out with the boys, an evening away with your partner from the kids, a vacation from the inherent chaos of our everyday, an afternoon with the inlaws, 18 holes of solace, a day with the kids, or an avenue to close a deal with a reluctant business associate, golf provides the ideal backdrop for investment in ourselves.
Ultimately, ClubLink is an investment. It’s a weekend away, summer camp, Victoria Day plans, a meeting room, a venue for arbitration, a romantic interlude, a family reunion – all rolled into one. This is not an all-access card for endless rounds, but rather admission to a “family of fine golf courses and a community of outstanding members.” And in order to fully realize that ambition, ClubLink has evolved and grown along with the families and sport that it loves. Initiatives such as the Graduate Program for Juniors and Intermediate Members, welcoming guest policies, and efficient and exclusive contemporary tee time reservation system are just a small sampling of what sets a ClubLink membership apart from the rest of golf community.
More recently, ClubLink introduced its Business Golf Concierge program, a unique golf solution” that’s the ultimate business entertainment investment. Promising “world-class golf, outstanding amenities and exceptional service,” the Business Golf Concierge program is exactly the type of ambitious addition to the ClubLink family that you’d expect: Access to “more than 40 golf and hospitality venues in Ontario, Quebec and Florida” and a flexible service tailored specifically to your business’ needs and your own ambitions.
Business Golf Concierge patrons may book tee times at any ClubLink venue online, through the call centre, or through your personal Concierge, who can also make specific arrangements to best suit you and your clients, such as welcome gifts, meeting rooms, dining reservations and more. Allow ClubLink to do all their work while you tend to yours, so you can expand your business against the backdrop of some of the world’s most picturesque and accomplished golf courses.
As for traditional memberships, ClubLink is celebrating its Silver Anniversary by offering exclusive membership deals among its seemingly endless expanse of options. ClubLink’s memberships are just like its courses: varied, exclusive, carefully crafted and uniquely tailored to the individualism of the demands and expectations of their environments. They offer access to more than 50 championship courses at 41 locations in Ontario, Quebec, and Florida; preferred tee times; golf year-round; efficient and convenient telephone and online booking; exclusive member championships; family-friendly events, interclub leagues, competitions and organized trips; peerless coaching at the Academies of ClubLink; complimentary family twilight memberships; graduated pricing for juniors and intermediates; access to more than 300 additional golf and athletic clubs globally with ClubCorp benefits; clubhouse dining and catering, discounts at ClubLink’s resorts, and more.
This is not a perfect world, but we are blessed with elements of perfection.
Our narratives are not predetermined – we are active participants in the epic story of our lives, freckled in detail and duty; family, work, indulgence, investment, and legacy. This great game – whose story is told not by the victors, but rather the sum of its players – has the unique ability to inform and affect how each of our stories bend to their arc. ClubLink opens our stories to possibility, to the splendour of nature, and to the grand benefits of chance, three qualities that define the game itself.
For more information, visit clublink.ca
