Mike Babinec, left, and Maged Mansour are two golfers looking forward to the Pictou Golf Club’s nine-hole course being preserved and improved by a Halifax group that has purchased the property. --Used with permisson of The Advocate

 Golfers excited about sale

Used with permission of The
Advocate

It’s official.

The Pictou Golf and Country Club has been sold, and local golfers are enthusiastic about the prospects of it being preserved as an improved nine-hole golf course.

“I think it’s awesome,” says Barry Wisener, who grew up in Pictou and is familiar with the four partners who have purchased the property.

Wisener now lives and works in HRM but has been friends with Mike Melanson, one of the partners in the group that closed the deal Wednesday, since they played university hockey three decades ago.
Melanson was a prominent player with St. Francis Xavier and Saint Mary’s universities, while Wisener starred with the Acadia Axemen.

“Mike’s the type of guy where it’s not about money for him,” Wisener says. “He’s a community minded guy and sees Pictou as a gem like Chester and Lunenburg. I think Mike and his guys are golfers, sports people who know what people want. They’ll present a good marketing approach and good sense that will complement the town.”

The Pictou Lions Club has owned and operated the golf course for years. But with 17 current members, the club that once boasted more than 40 members no longer has the energy and expertise to operate the course
Although the cost of the transaction was not announced, the club confirmed it is an outright sale with no conditions.

Preliminary indications are that it will remain a nine-hole course, but it will be upgraded.
“We’re really excited,” Melanson says. “We hope we can build on our momentum because we think Pictou is a great destination. It’s a hidden gem and should be talked about. Places like Chester don’t have what Pictou has to offer – accommodations, dining, an indoor pool and the waterfront. We want to work with the businesses in town.”

Some work on the course could proceed “before the snow flies,” Melanson says. But work will begin in earnest next spring.

“We want to tweak the course and take it to the next level, but it won’t happen in one year,” he says.
The course opened in 1921, so Melanson has considered renaming it the Pictou Harbour Golf Club and developing a new logo to enhance its identity with its surroundings as the course approaches its centennial.

Condominiums are also part of the buyers’ plans in order to generate year-round revenue for the club and make it a more attractive draw for those who desire a course that is not so challenging while offering a good golfing experience and a world-class view.

“I’m just glad we’ll still be able to golf here,” says Mike Babinec, who has been a member of the club since 1967. “I’m looking forward to it.”