Page 11 - GBC Winter 2024 English

It’s 3AM, and you are in a deep sleep after a long, busy day at your golf course. Your body is relaxed, and your mind is finally at peace; then suddenly your cellphone buzzes and you bolt out of bed! Immediately, you learn that your course’s security alarm system is going off again.
You throw on a pair of jeans and hop into your vehicle to head over to check-in on your investment. The entrance gate is open, and as you pull up to the clubhouse, you see broken glass on the ground by the pro shop door! With adrenaline pumping through your veins, you enter the clubhouse and your new reality kicks in. This isn’t a false alarm; your golf course has been hit by burglars!
Unfortunately, this occurrence has become more commonplace in 2024. From coast to coast, golf course owners/operators exper- ienced an increase in significant security matters at their facilities. From clubhouse break and enters, to power cart thefts; Canadian golf courses have unfortunately moved into the crosshairs of the criminal world.
ALBERTA’S OFF-SEASON B&E CRIME SPREE
In early 2024, over a 2-month period, a spree of golf course break-and- enters were experienced in Alberta. When the dust finally settled and three suspects were in custody, RCMP confirmed they seized evidence connected with 11 golf courses around the Calgary area.
Multiple RCMP detachments had been investigating the break- ins, but the Cochrane crime reduction unit was assigned to the investigation on January 30th.
“Certainly, it was targeted. Most of these break-and-enters were to golf courses,” said Cpl. Kyle Ashe, with Cochrane RCMP’s crime reduction unit to CTV Calgary. “Not too sure why exactly; but it was definitely a pattern that we picked up on.” Ashe added that the golf courses sustained damage and theft of various items, including “mostly cash, but also electronics like POS equipment, laptops, lottery tickets, cigarettes, things of that nature,” he said.
Wintergreen Golf and Country Club golf course manager, Alf Beaudry, said damage was done to windows and doors, but the thieves also ransacked an ATM. “They went through the entire building, through the pro shop and a lot of the offices, they left laptops, radios,” said Beaudry to CTV Calgary. “It looked like they’re just going for cash or maybe something untraceable.”1
“Having a dreaded break-in is always a costly and time-consuming event. Camera systems rarely solve the crime, but you can use footage to learn how to avoid future events,” said Slade King, COO of Play Golf Calgary, which operates one of the golf courses targeted during those off-season break-ins. “Smash and grab seems to be the theme with crooks trying to get in and out quickly.”
“My suggestion is to learn which areas need improved lighting and door security at your facility,” recommended King. “Laptops, ipads, cash, small and light merchandise items are targeted most. One thing we learnt is that they will smash locked doors and internal windows looking for goods. So, a practice we put in place is to leave things open that have no value inside. Repairing damage outweighs the missing goods in most cases.”
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