It’s been a rough start to the golf season for Paul Dame, owner of Bluff Point Golf Resort in Plattsburgh, N.Y., about 100 kilometres south of Montreal.
Over the past two months, he said, business for both golf and lodgings has plummeted 30 per cent compared with the same period last year. Dame attributes much of the decline to far fewer Canadian golfers, who typically make up about half his business.
He said many past Canadian customers have told him they’re avoiding the U.S., and hence his golf course, due to anger over President Donald Trump’s trade war and threats to make Canada the 51st state.
“They don’t like being picked on, and to be honest, I can’t really blame them,” Dame said. “It’s disheartening to have something completely out of my control that is causing my business to have a major downturn.”
In an effort to show Canadians they’re …