As it prepares for housing development, Burlington golf club reveals smaller course

A golf course that has won the right to build townhomes on a portion of the site is scaling back operations this year.

Millcroft Golf Club in Burlington says for the upcoming season only nine holes will be available to golfers and the operation of all leagues will be suspended.

The news comes after the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) ruled that developers are within their rights to proceed with the project that would create about 90 homes and a small apartment building on the grounds of the golf course.

Despite the stiff opposition of residents and Burlington City Hall, the developer is now proceeding with the plan which means the former 18-hole Millcroft will become a 9-hole executive course moving forward.

The operators of the golf course have not yet responded to inquiries made by INsauga.com but a short message posted on the Millcroft website outlines the plans.

“We eagerly look forward to the start of the 2025 golf season. The course will be 9 holes during this year and we will play on the back 9 holes (holes 10 to 18),” reads the message.

Millcroft has been operating as a semi-private course with 18 holes since it opened in 1989.

The OLT, the body that rules on land disputes in Ontario, gave its approval to the development last year after years of struggling with nearby residents.

One group, Millcroft Against Bad Development (MAD), has argued that the project will take away local public control over land that may be considered environmentally sensitive. They say that replacing greenspace with more homes will affect flood management, kill off wildlife and create traffic problems in their neighbourhoods.

The city had asked the provincial government to step in to overturn the OLT decision but that hasn’t happened.

The golf course and those behind the project, Argo Development Corporation, have maintained the smaller course suits a changing market that is looking for quicker game play and that the additional housing is needed to meet current local demand.

The response to the changes has been swift on social media with many calling for a boycott of the golf course while others caution that if golfers don’t show up it will provide the incentive to bulldoze the entire 650-acre site.

Millcroft also announced that the interior dining room will not be open for food and banquets this year and instead offer an outdoor snack hut and barbeque for golfers.