Border course hopes to open

When the United States and Canadian border closed more than a year ago, there was no doubt there would be repercussions sounding throughout both countries. 

The governments of both countries kept promising to open the border. But the date kept moving. And moving. And moving some more.

With people not able to come and go like they used to, businesses near the border were in trouble. And that goes for the golf business too.

Take a look at the Bald Eagle Golf Club at Point Roberts, Wash. Since the border shut down back in March of 2020, the courses has been closed. You might ask why would it close down since it is on the American side.

Well, take a look at a map. Point Roberts is a place that you can only get to by driving 25 miles into Canada and then back into the United States. And with the border closed, getting to the courses has been impossible.

For some background, way back in 1846 something called the Oregon Treaty between the U.S. and Great Britain said that every bit of land south of the 49th parallel would belong to the United States. And what do you know – Point Roberts is just below the 49th parallel and sits on its own little peninsula of land that you can get to only by driving into Canada and back down into the United States.

The course has some interesting history as well. It opened as Point Roberts Golf Club before new owners came in and changed the name to Bald Eagle Golf Club. Before the change of ownership, the course had been shut down because the previous owners could not afford to keep things up and running.

But with the COVID-19 pandemic, things changed. The border closed in March of 2020 and who knows when it will open. The course closed down as well but a slimmed down maintenance crew led by Rick Hoole has done what it can to keep the course in good shape – waiting for golfers to return. It’s been like a ghost town at Bald Eagle Golf Club, but hopefully with things changing, and people getting vaccinated, the course will open and golfers will return.

And speaking of COVID-19 Point Roberts has a population of around 1,300 for the longest time there was not one single case of COVID-19 in the town. But that still hasn’t helped the golf course, which has not seen a player roaming the fairways in well over a year.

General Manager Kyle German is a dual citizen of Canada and the U.S. but is still stuck on the Canadian side of the border. But he likes that the course will be ready when the border opens and golfers will return to Bald Eagle. He said that almost all of their players are Canadians and because the Canadians couldn’t not cross the border into Point Roberts and the U.S., he had no choice but to shut the course down.

But better days are ahead. And when the border opens between the United States and Canada, Bald Eagle will be ready.