Berthier Golf Club: New Owners Want to Compete with Le Mirage and La Tempête

With their new course being renovated at a cost of millions, the new owners of the Berthier Golf Club intend to compete with the most beautiful courses in Quebec, such as Le Mirage or La Tempête.

Jean-Claude Paillé, Marco Gélinas Sylvestre and Louis-Gilbert Fredette, of Groupe Paillé, and their partner André St-Martin began a complete metamorphosis of the site and its facilities after their acquisition in March 2023. The amount of the transaction was $2.9 million according to a document whose The Journal got a copy.

According to a source familiar with the matter, we are talking about a total investment of more than $20 million for the purchase, the redesign of the course which will include 27 holes and the renovations of the main pavilion (club-house).

“It’s a big project and we’re investing a lot in it,” explains Jean-Claude Paillé, without giving the exact amount of the renovations. “We started from almost zero.”

His group hired the architectural firm Huxham, which has designed dozens of golf courses around the world. It is the same company that is behind the courses La Tempête in Quebec City and Fontainebleau in Blainville, two of the most prestigious clubs in Quebec.

The work began in the summer of 2023. First, a major clean-up was carried out on the site before construction began. In particular, the new owners had to rebuild the water drainage system.

“We had to redo the drainage ditches to face our new climate reality,” adds Mr. Paillé. “Water management is becoming more of an issue than ever for golf clubs.”

In addition to drainage, the cart paths will be brought up to standard, the greens will be improved and the sand traps will also get some love.

Towards privatization

Before its closure, the Berthier Golf Club was open to the general public. A philosophy that will change when it reopens.

“We are aiming for privatization,” Mr. Paillé said. “It will be an expensive club with an expensive course. There is a clientele that is looking for that.”

The aim of the head of the Paillé Group and his associates is to break into the top 10 clubs that cater to a more affluent clientele.

“Few clubs are able to offer what I’m going to offer,” he said. “We’ll have about 300 members. We want quality in our membership, not quantity.”

Membership costs could be around $10,000. About a hundred people have already expressed interest in becoming members.

“If the land had stayed the same, I wouldn’t have bought it. It wouldn’t have been representative of who I am.”

Paillé dreams of hosting a professional golf tournament on his course and seeing renowned players in action.

Put Berthier on the map

Jean-Claude Paillé is not a golf player, but he knows how to recognize the beauty of this sport. However, there was no question of seeing an “economic engine of his region and a job creator” die a slow death.

“We didn’t want Berthierville to lose this tourist attraction,” emphasizes the businessman who is recognized in the world of pickup trucks in North America. “It puts Berthier on the map.”

His purchase caused a lot of talk in the Berthierville community, to the point where many curious people went to the site despite the presence of heavy machinery for the work.

“I don’t want to see citizens on the ground for health and safety reasons,” concludes Jean-Claude Paillé.

– With the collaboration of Philippe Langlois, research journalist at the Bureau d’enquête