Slow to open, area courses are buzzing with eager golfers
As slow as golf courses were to open this year in the Saskatoon area, they were quick to get real busy.
Take the Willows Golf and Country Club, which opened on April 28.
“That,” said general manager Wayne Fairbairn, “was the busiest opening day of all time. We just opened full bore. We went flat-out. It was awesome.”
The Moon Lake Golf and Country Club, which prides itself in traditionally being one of the first courses to open, didn’t officially open until May 3.
“I don’t know if it’s the latest (opening), but it sure would be close,” said Bobbi Brandon, Moon Lake’s head professional. “Compared to last year, it’s almost a month later. It’s been decently busy. I think everybody’s got the itch to get out on the course.”
Brandon adds it will be interesting to see, once the golf season is done, how the later opening will affect the bottom line as April often isn’t a busy month, anyway, due to unpredictable spring weather.
“When you do open up early, you do tend to get bad weather,” said Brandon, whose Moon Lake course has added a new bridge on Heather No. 8, new golf carts and a new deck for the pro shop. “Fingers crossed that this year it’s just good weather.”
Dakota Dunes Golf Links opened on April 29, which is late by its standards.
“It’s the latest start since I’ve been here,” said Dakota Dunes GM and head professional Mike Jacobs. “I think April 17 or April 18 had been our latest start. I remember we opened March 29 one year and we were shut down for 10 days after that. April can be pretty sketchy sometimes.”
Good weather this past week has helped bridge the gap.
“It’s been pretty steady,” said Jacobs. “We kind of jumped right into full-go mode. People are anxious to golf. Greens are pretty good. Golf course is good. We’ve had some moisture here. It’s time to get going here.”
If it was a delayed start to the golf season, local golf courses are shaping up rather quickly.
“I think we are probably ahead of last year in conditions,” said McLaren Taylor, general manager at Saskatoon Golf and Country Club.
“The fast melt and the nice warm temperatures we got right away made a big difference. The golf course has never really looked better in the spring.”
SGCC opened on April 28, as one of the first courses to open in Saskatoon.
“That was a little earlier than expected (given the snow cover) and I think we were earlier than a couple of other places,” said Taylor. “We started 10 days late (compared to 2017), but those first 10 days that we got were probably better than two to three weeks in a regular year. It’s been great. It’s condensed all the action for membership sales. Normally, we would see a little more action throughout April, but everything kind of happened toward the end of April for all our membership sales. Fast and furious — it got busy real fast with membership sales.”
Ditto for The Willows. “Weopenedgreat,”saidFairbairn. “The course is just perfect. It was a good winter for the golf course. We’re excited about the conditions and memberships are up a little bit, which is nice, so we’re looking forward to a good year. Mother Nature kind of dictates what we do here but we’re ready for when they come out and that’s all we can do.”
So far, so good.
“It’s (looking) better than a month ago,” laughed Fairbairn. “I didn’t even know if we’d be open by now.”
The Legends in Warman opened on May 3. A year ago, the course opened April 14.
“Last year, there weren’t a lot of playable days in April,” said Davidson Matyczuk, who is the Legends’ new GM and head professional.
“This year, right off the bat, we had a very busy weekend with good weather and now a little bit of rain (Tuesday), which helped, obviously. There’s always been a history of opening for a few days and then you get snow and then you’re closed for a week. I know courses are typically open earlier but playable days in April aren’t always there.”
Matyczuk joined The Legends after stints at the Willows and Dakota Dunes.
“I would say the conditions are good,” he said of the popular Warman course. “We’ve been open less than a week, but the first weekend was really good. We made it up quickly and memberships are right on track to be where we want them. The slow start hasn’t really had an impact yet. It didn’t affect tournaments. Our memberships and the rounds that we did get in April last year, we can probably make up with some good weather this year.”