GOLF HAS REBOUNDED IN SASKATCHEWAN
Across the province, many courses are unveiling exciting upgrades
Due to various lockdowns and restrictions on many activities, 2021 was a banner year for the sport of golf. Now that those measures have been lifted, what does 2022 offer for golfers in Saskatchewan?
“(Under COVID) 2021 was one of those ones where nobody really knew, coming out of 2020, what a golf season might look like,” said Brian Lee, executive director of Golf Saskatchewan. “Golf was one of those safe activities and one where you could go outdoors to enjoy it. So, there were the mental and health aspects of it that were very positive, and some people who had never played the game took it up.”
Fortunately, that momentum continued through 2021. “We had many golf clubs that had some of their most successful years ever,” Lee said. “We had a record number of rounds posted to the score centre, with (approximately) 255,000 rounds posted into the handicap system.”
Golf Saskatchewan, whose membership dropped slightly in 2020 due to some of the COVID restrictions, rebounded. “Our membership was up because we had leagues come back, and we also had two golf courses that were 18-hole facilities come back into our membership fold,” said Lee. “Elk Ridge Resort and Candle Lake rejoined, along with some new to us in the last few years.”
Now that Spring has finally sprung, golfers are seeing for themselves some of the improvements that are underway at Saskatchewan courses.
Yorkton’s Deer Park Municipal Golf Course is in the midst of a significant upgrade. In January, Yorkton’s City Council voted to proceed with a $7.6 million project to construct a new clubhouse. The new facility will replace the existing clubhouse, which is at least 60 years old, and is scheduled for completion in time for the 2023 golf season.
Other upgrades are already complete or in their final phases. For instance, Rocanville Golf and Country Club recently relocated a sizeable building from Archerwill to serve as its new clubhouse.
Last year, Rosetown Golf Club finished renovations that created two new holes (a par four and a par three), renovated one of their existing par threes, and dug a 1.2-million-gallon pond. The extra holes are expected to allow the course to continue regular renovations while still providing at least nine for play.
The same season, the Weyburn Golf Club installed a new irrigation system on the front nine to keep the course green through the dry conditions that have afflicted the course in recent years.
Meanwhile, Golf Kenosee’s pro shop and Club 19 restaurant concluded a two-year cycle of upgrades to refresh their look and feel.
One widespread change has been made to procedures rather than facilities. Although some clubs are returning to the practice of fielding two groups out every 15 minutes, the extended tee time interval adopted under COVID restrictions has proven so popular that many clubs are continuing the policy.