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criminals,” said Stephen Kostoff, Wolf Run’s General Manager. “We decided to install a tracking device in our carts that was more concealed than the GPS systems that many other golf courses use. We were hopeful that if something else ever happened at our facility, we may be able to create a situation where the criminals could be caught.”
“Well, fast forward to this season, when we had an attempted theft on 14 golf carts, and a dozen were removed from the property,” continued Kostoff. “The customer facing GPS were ripped out of the carts rendering them completely useless. However, our hidden secondary tracking devices were successful and provided us two locations where our stolen carts were being held. I provided the police with the addresses of the stolen carts and an investigation was started immediately. Over the course of the next 48 hours, I was in direct contact with the police repeatedly aiding them as necessary. After a search warrant was approved, the police were able to enter the location, and our dozen carts were found! At the time, one arrest occurred, and our golf carts were returned a few days later. I am very proud to have been innovative to help catch these criminals, and hopefully this deters it from happening to others.”
In early July 2024, the Niagara region was hit once again. This time, Beechwood Golf & Social House was the victim with 25 power carts stolen overnight from a secure compound. The thieves knew exactly what they were doing as they had the tools to get in and the knowledge of the area to know how to make
their way through the entire length of the course in the middle of the night to a waiting vehicle on Beechwood Road. The number of carts would suggest a large vehicle, such as a transport truck, or several smaller vehicles with trailers.
“It appears that whoever is behind it seems to be organized,” indicated Ian Ladd, Beechwood’s President and CEO to Niagara This Week. “You don’t just show up and take, in our case, tens of carts in the middle of the night without having a plan. My guess is that it took quite a bit of time to pull off. This didn’t just take 10 minutes. This probably took hours.”
“There seems to be something of an epidemic of this going around, not just here in Niagara but across Ontario,” Ladd said, explaining they’ve since taken additional measures, including putting in place 24- hour surveillance. “Our hope is to learn from this and move forward. And we hope the police do whatever it takes to catch them and make it a priority.”3
QUEBEC & ONTARIO’S SUMMER OF CLUBHOUSE BURGLARY
In early July 2024, the NGCOA Canada became aware of some recent break-ins at a few clubhouses in the western portion of Quebec. The overnight break-ins appeared to be focused on stealing cash from safes, and not concerned about the alcohol on site or the golf equipment in the pro shop. Over the course of the next few days, more courses in Eastern Ontario/Outaouais region were hit with the same MO. EDITOR’S NOTE: as this is still an active and ongoing police investigation, specific details are not allowed to be shared with the general public at this point.
In response, the NGCOA Canada quickly published emergency communiques to our members in Quebec and Eastern Ontario to make them aware of the recent situation. These messages included a few recommendations that could be considered immediately to reduce the impact of a potential break-in, including the precaution to remove the cash from the building, as well as a reminder to be sure all the cameras and lighting were in proper working order, and all facility security protocols were in place. Within the next 48 hours following these communiques, the NGCOA Canada was notified that another cluster of golf courses had been hit in the Cornwall/Prescott region of Eastern Ontario.
“We were made aware of some local area course break-ins from fellow owners and solidified the information and heightened alert through NGCOA Canada communications,” said Carol Ann Baxter, Owner / Operator of Archie’s Family Golf Centre in Cornwall. “As a precautionary measure, and because a) I had a weird feeling and b) I hadn’t been able to make it to the bank the previous day, I emptied the safe and took money off the premises. That night we were hit and luckily only lost cash proceeds in our small drop safe from 4-10 pm. This was a direct result of the NGCOA Canada notices!”
“Once I got the alarm call, I asked the police to make their way over to Summerheights Golf Links (which they did immediately) in order to ward off any possible attempts at our neighbouring course,” explained Baxter. “I’m not sure if that’s why Summerheights wasn’t hit that night
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