Cedar Hill Golf Course Restaurant Closed

Stair to the Restaurant

Cedar Hill golf course is one of my favorite places to visit in Victoria. I was running on their trail a lot. I love their restaurant. I always recommend people to have lunch there. With less than $15 for a meal, you can have a good view of blue sky with fantastic green and very relaxing atmosphere inside the restaurant. People who work there are very nice and smile all the time. That's why my wife and I chose here to held our wedding banquet. Dino Clarkson who was the executive chef of the restaurant gave us a lot of advices on our wedding banquet such as decoration, flooring plan, and food selection. Thank you so much Dino Clarkson. My wife, the guests and I were very enjoyed the food, and we had a unforgettable night. 

Recently, I found that the cedar hill golf course projected $820,000 deficit for this year. Closing the restaurant (I didn't know the restaurant called Shank's Pub until I read the news) can save $100,000 for the deficit. It’s sad that my wife and I  didn’t get a chance to object or visit the restaurant again before they closed. The last day for the restaurant was Feb 17, 2012.  Now Cedar Hill Golf Course Restaurant / Shank's Pub is only in our memory. 

I find a history of the Cedar Hill Golf Course on Saanich News.

Looking outside from the restaurant

- The first time a round of golfing was 100 years ago.

- McRae family owned the land of Cedar Hill Golf course until November of 1967.

- 133-acre property was used as a dairy farm.

- The location of Cedar Hill rec center, built in 1972, was the McRae’s old cattle barn

- Cedar Hill Golf Course was a nine-hole course. Until 1951, it expanded to 18-hole course.

- In 1967,  the District of Saanich expropriated the McRae property for 1.2 million.

- Saanich began operating the course in 1971.

- In May 1996, the clubhouse was destroyed by the arson attack from two teens.

- The new clubhouse, cost 1.3 million, opened in 1997 till today.

- The golf course has been getting complaints of errant golf balls damaging surrounding properties from the neighborhood since 1939.  

- By 2008, the golf course and clubhouse began to face deficits.

Photography by - Adrian Lam, Times Colonist

News from CTV regarding to the closing Shank's Pub