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Golf pro hitting air with city strike – Metro US

Golf pro hitting air with city strike

The two-week-old city strike has already cost Lianne Ritchie about $16,000.

If the labour dispute continues into August, it might end up costing the 46-year-old golf professional her house in Whitby.

“I just want the strike to be over so I can resume making a living,” she said. “Right now I’m just looking to survive today and tomorrow.”

Under a private contract with the city, Ritchie has been the golf pro at the municipally owned Scarlett Woods Golf Course for 15 years. She manages the pro shop, purchases equipment and merchandise, and pays the staff from her own pocket.

The city’s five golf courses closed last week in the wake of the strike by municipal workers, which began June 22. This has cut the pros from their shops and from readily available space in which to hold lessons.

The other four city-owned courses are Tam O’Shanter, Don Valley, Dentonia and Humber Valley.

The closures come at an especially inconvenient time — May to July is peak golf season.

“I’m not coming down on the city … they’ve given me a (venue) to make a living,” Ritchie said. “I just want the public to know. I don’t think a lot of people know there are privatized contracts that are affected.”