It was a deal he couldn't resist.
Local developer Doug Day has purchased the defunct Garibaldi Springs golf course for its 145 acres of prime, centrally located land.
"It's one of the nicest pieces of property I think I've ever seen," said Day. "It's full of lakes and rivers, streams, viewpoints, trails."
Although he wouldn't disclose the final sale figures, Day said it was a fraction of what the property is actually worth.
"I think I got a pretty good deal on it."
Investors of the resort, which includes an independently operated hotel and restaurant, shut down the golf course in May after six years to staunch the reported half-million-dollar loss the business suffered each year, leaving 20 full time and 10 part time employees out of work.
The jobs won't be returning anytime soon since Day doesn't intend to start up operations again - at least not in its previous form.
"The people who knew a lot more about golf than we do tried for six years to run that as a golf course and lost about half a million dollars a year just on operations," he said. "That pretty well proves the point that it doesn't work as an 18-hole golf course."
However there may be the possibility of a nine-hole course, and that notion has got former Garibaldi Springs president Sid Brickman very excited.
"It's going to be a real boon for the District of Squamish in my mind," said Brickman.
"Had we been able to do it, we would've done exactly the same thing ourselves."
Brickman said the investors lost millions on the hotel portion of the resort and needed to pull out.
For six months Brickman tried to find a suitable buyer - he went back and forth with one local party in particular who would gain then lose investors -but in the end, he said, he's elated to be handing the property over to Day.
"I'm so glad it's Doug Day," said Brickman. "He's a good guy. He's from Squamish, and I wanted desperately for the golf course to remain in Squamish hands."
Also cautiously pleased is Rockwell's Restaurant owner and operator Surinder Brar.
The business, which is attached to the hotel, has been suffering since the course's shutdown, said Brar.
"I think it's going to be positive," said Brar. "Regardless if it's an 18-hole or nine-hole with a driving range or a pitch and putt, I think it's going to increase things over here."
But Day isn't entirely sure what the fate of the property will be. He's contemplating the notion of co-operating with the District of Squamish to establish a public park on the land, saying it far surpasses the park potential of the Oceanfront.
"The whole SODC lands is only 50 acre. This golf course is three times that size so at the very best you might have a five-acre park at the south end."
