Signs of spring appear
West Paradise course opens for the season
Duff Bishop was all smiles March 18 after getting the first swings of the golf season in at the Eden Golf and Country Club in West Paradise.
“This time of the year, March 18, about 12 degrees and sunny – beautiful,” he said after opening day at the Annapolis County course. “You can’t beat it.”
Eden is believed to be one of the first courses, if not the first, in the province to open for the season. “We normally are pretty close,” said pro shop manager Ed Troop, noting the course’s sand base enables it to dry quickly.
“It was extra early this year.” A few years ago, the club opened during the first week of March while opening day in 2021 was March 28.
This season, club officials decided March 16 to open two days later and the word quickly spread through the golf community.
“It was an exceptionally busy day on Friday. Saturday was a bad day because of the rain and cold and then yesterday was a good day,” Troop said March 21, noting many of the green fee players were from out of town The course didn’t permit carts on the course until March 21 and didn’t take tee times until after 10 a.m. to guard against frost.
Bishop said he enjoyed getting out after a long winter and the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s kind of a blessing this time of the year when you can get out and golf,” he said. “You kind of forget all the bad stuff that happened. Life is good now.”
Bishop, a Paradise resident and member at Eden, got to the course around 2:30 p.m. on March 18 and played 12 of the course’s 18 holes.
“I’d have to say I’m in midseason form – missing short putts,” he said with a laugh. “It was good just to get out after the winter just to hit some balls and see you still got it.”
Friday’s time on the course wasn’t about shooting low for Bishop. “Anything over a bogey, you lose track of the score,” he said, before noting he did par a couple of holes, including his last hole. “It keeps you coming back the next day.”
Troop knows what he has in mind for his preferred weather for the coming days.
“You want high temperatures and sunny weather,” he said. “As long as there’s no snow, they can go and the temperatures above zero.”