Tyandaga Golf Course

Good news - Tyandaga Golf Course will remain as an 18-hole public course. At the City Council meeting on March 19, Council approved a staff recommendation which included keeping the course at 18-holes. Staff will begin the process of looking at opportunities to make capital and risk mitigation improvements.

City Council also approved the creation of a Tyandaga Golf Course Reserve Fund, funded by user-fees that would help pay for future customer enhancements of the golf course.

Public Engagement

Through public engagements, staff heard feedback from residents and golfers through multiple in-person and online public meetings, the Appleby Street Festival and Food for Feedback events. City Council and City staff also received many emails and calls and the City sought expertise from consultants and golf experts. An online survey was also open for residents and golfers.

Public engagement led to the active involvement of 168 residents in face-to-face interactions and 490 completed surveys and online participations. 79% of survey participants were golfers or had previously golfed at Tyandaga. The recurring feedback from this community conveyed a strong preference for maintaining the golf course as an 18-hole facility.

To continue public engagement, a Tyandaga Committee will be formed to ensure continuous community input on the improvements of Tyandaga, such as reviewing course layout and making recommendation to enhance playability. The committee will be made up of golfers and local area residents. Anyone interested can email brad.weake@burlington.ca. Names will be randomly selected to be on the committee.

Next Steps Safety and Quality of Play Improvements

In 2024, the removal of ash trees, tree trimming to improve sightlines and consideration of additional tree plantings for residential coverage will be done. New benches have been ordered and washrooms are being renovated for the start of the golf season.

Tee box improvements and sand trap alterations will undergo further review, and implementation will begin once the projects have been successfully contracted and assets prioritized.

To enhance the golfer’s experience, a single-use warm-up cage will be available for golfers to warm-up before teeing off and youth golf clinics will be available.

Parking lot construction is underway and will be completed before the end of April. The greenspace will be open during construction.

Exploration of available grants could provide opportunities to speed up capital improvements such as adding cart paths as well as linking hiking trails from Kerncliff Park to Tyandaga, both of which would increase safety as well as customer experience.

Staff will bring a full operation report to council in five years.

Thank you for interest in this project. We look forward to seeing you on the course!

As someone who has participated in a past Tyandaga engagement session, emailed, subscribed to the Get Involved Burlington page or is a past golfer/member, we wanted to share with you an update on the future use of Tyandaga.

A report with recommendations has been submitted to Council and is now available for viewing. This report will be discussed at the March 4 or March 5 Committee of the Whole and the City Council meeting on March 19th.

The main recommendation is to keep the course as an 18-hole course and keep or enhance the current safety features in place.

We encourage you to read the report and its recommendations. Should you have additional questions or comments, please contact Renee.Kulinski-McCann@burlington.ca, Senior Manager for Recreation Services.

As part of the standard process, you are welcome to speak to Committee or Council regardless of your stance on the matter. For information on how to register as a delegate, please visit burlington.ca/delegate.

The final report on Tyandaga’s future use to Council has been moved to March. It will first go to the Committee of the Whole on March 4 and then to City Council on March 19.

The report is being moved because staff are compiling all the information and comments received since the safety reports were made public.

In the coming weeks, the report will be posted on burlington.ca/calendar in the respective Committee of the Whole and City Council agendas. Anyone who would like to delegate can register then.

Good news update. At the Dec 12, 2023 Council Meeting , council approved the release of the safety report to the public. Due to legal concerns, this was a confidential document.

Many residents and golfers asked to see this report and now it is available. The report outlines the areas of safety and risk for holes on the course.

Please take a moment to review the document. If you have any comments, concerns or suggestions related to the report, please submit them here.

Thank you to all who participated in an engagement session or submitted their ideas or feedback online.

This project started in late 2022 and initially to look for ways to keep more balls in play around hole 18. The City underwent a review of the Golf Course, looking at angles of play, proximity to holes and homes to review the course’s layout and compare with industry-standard risk. This review sparked some innovation on how the operation at Tyandaga Golf Course could evolve to better serve the community, residents and perhaps even contribute to an increase in the overall City’s passive-use green space. This review turned into a project with a goal of reducing risk and setting up the course well for the many next generations of golfers. Various considerations were reviewed over the course of these 10 months and many of these were discussed during the engagement sessions.

Options for the evolution of Tyandaga includes keeping an altered 18-holes or turning the course into a nine-hole or 12-hole course with recreational greenspace (driving range, trails, open space…etc.).

To date, six engagement sessions have been held on the future use of Tyandaga: one online session and five in-person sessions.

• 168 people participated in the engagement sessions
• 58 people submitted ideas online
• 490 completed the online survey
• Many others contacted City staff and members of Council directly

Here is a brief summary of what we heard:

• Residents do not want the lands developed (We agree. It will stay as public recreational land)
• Residents wanted to know what the current financials for Tyandaga were as well as what was presented to Council in the past
• Residents would like to know what keeping 18-holes would look like and what moving to either a nine or twelve-hole course would look like
• Residents wanted to look at other strategies for safety if we kept the course as an 18-hole course (i.e. netting options, tree planting options…etc.)

Staff are currently reviewing the information received from the engagement sessions and from direct contact. Information, including all the options mentioned above will be put into a report for Committee in Q1, 2024. Once the date and details are confirmed, they will be available on this site. Please note that this change in reporting timeline is due to the extensive feedback received from the community and the need to ensure we have listened, researched and provided the best information back to Committee and Council.

As always, residents can delegate at this committee meeting. If you would like to delegate, please visit burlington.ca/delegate.

Burlington’s Tyandaga Golf Course is evolving. The City of Burlington is looking to engage with current and future golfers, residents and neighbours on Tyandaga as a possible 9-hole golf course plus other outdoor recreation opportunities. The City is looking for public input about potential outdoor recreational options for the remaining greenspace. It is important to note the overall size of the existing greenspace would not be reduced, it would not be developed and it will remain as a highly valued, public recreational greenspace for all to enjoy.

Everyone is invited to provide ideas and feedback on what the space could be used for. Options include a driving range, practice greens or other outdoor recreation or cultural space.

The course will stay as an 18-hole course for 2024. Any changes to the golf course will not happen until 2025 and will require Council approval.

Engagement Opportunities

Dates and information for all engagement opportunities are posted at getinvolvedburlington.ca/tyandagagolf.

Session 1
Date: Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023
Time: noon to 4 p.m.
Location: Food for Feedback event, Central Park, 2299 New St.

Session 2
Date: Sept. 24
Time: 1 to 5 p.m.
Location: Appleby Street Festival, between Fairview Street and New Street

Session 3
Date: Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. SESSION IS NOW FULL- space still open for the Oct 3 and 5 sessions.
Time: 6 to 8 p.m.
Location: Tyandaga Golf Course

Session 4
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. Registration required
Time: 6 to 8 p.m.
Location: Online. Link to register

Session 5
Date: Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. Registration required.
Time: 10 to noon
Location: Mountainside Community Centre, Community Room #1. 2205 Mount Forest Dr.

Session 6- NEW SESSION ADDED
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023. Registration required
Time: 7 to 9 p.m.
Location: Tyandaga Golf Course

Register to attend the engagement workshops