You won't hear many people around here complaining about an early spring, least of all golf fans. Due to inclement weather, last year's golf season started late and ended early, which made for a short golf season.
This year four golf courses in the area – Didsbury, Carstairs, Tooth of the Dog Pound Creek near Cremona and Water Valley – opened in mid-April and everyone is hoping for a long season.
Carstairs Community Golf Club opened on April 11 and has done great business since, said general manager and club professional Kirk Williscroft.
"We opened three weeks earlier than last year," said Williscroft. "Everything wintered well. All our greens came through in good shape. Like everyone, we could use a little rain now but that' s OK. We've been steady since we opened when the weather's nice."
The Carstairs course is located directly on Highway 2A and features a full 18-hole championship golf course, driving range, putting green and a fully licensed restaurant and patio.
"The restaurant is open to the public. People don't have to golf, they can just come up and have a good meal or a drink," said Williscroft.
The course is semi-private, which means they have shareholder and annual memberships but are also open to the public, said Williscroft.
"We're very affordable and offer all the amenities," he said. "We pride ourselves on our customer service. We host lots of Alberta Golf and PGA of Alberta events."
The club has senior men's and ladies' days on Tuesday mornings, ladies' night on Wednesday and men's night on Thursday, said Williscroft.
"We have a junior program which runs on Wednesday nights starting in mid-May," he said. "It's lessons from 5 to 6 p.m. They can golf after. We offer a $10 green fee for any adult playing with them after 6 p.m."
The club hosts a number of tournaments throughout the season.
"Our first one is our mixed open on May 26," he said. "We have a fun couples' event called the Fred and Wilma on Friday, July 5. It's a really good one. We have our Carstairs Open, which is July 27 and 28. Those are our big ones."
The Tooth of the Dogpound Creek Golf Course is nestled in the scenic Dogpound Creek valley about 10 kilometres east of Cremona. The course offers a licensed clubhouse and snack bar, driving range, practice green and 18 holes of pure golf enjoyment.
Course owner Brenda Odell said the club opened on April 17.
"The course is in good shape," said Odell. "It's greening up nicely. Once the warmer overnight temperatures set in it will green up even better."
Odell said they were glad to be open early after last year's short season.
"We're happy to be open this year after our early closing last year," she said. "It was pretty much the middle of September and the weather just didn't cooperate."
The club offers memberships both restricted and unrestricted.
"We also offer loyalty cards," she said. "Our big attraction is that for the price of nine holes we actually offer 12-hole play for the price of nine."
Being on Dogpound Creek, the course offers plenty of water hazards.
"There's lots of water, and trees and bush," she said. "It's well framed with trees. The fairways are fairly open, it's not just target golf. They're pretty fair to the golfers. We also have some beautiful views of the mountains especially on the upper holes. Hole No. 8 is probably our signature hole because you can see the mountains very clearly and the countryside."
The club has ladies' league on Tuesdays and men's league on Mondays.
Located 10 minutes southwest of Cremona, the Water Valley Golf and Country Club is a semi-private, full-sized 18-hole course with a driving range, pro shop and fully licensed restaurant.
The course opened up on April 22 and has been doing steady business ever since.
Club co-owner Cindy Setter said the course is looking really good after the winter.
"It's greening up quite nicely," said Setter. "That's the good thing about us out here we still have some moisture in the ground. We have a lot of trees and it doesn't dry out. So it's green. It's looking really nice this year."
Setter said that golf season last year was way too short due to the snowy weather.
"The problem here is if you get snow it takes a while to leave," she said. "Last fall, the problem was we got it too early and the sun's low. If you have treed fairways it takes a long time to get rid of. We're hoping the temperatures stay a little warmer. When you start in May and don't get October in at all, that's a short season."
Setter said that much of the appeal of the Water Valley Golf and Country Club is the fact that it is secluded and close to nature.
"We get a lot of people out from the cities and bigger towns," she said. "It is the fact that it is secluded. All of the fairways are tree-lined. You get out there and you don't even realize you're out there with 200 people. It's calm, it's quiet. You're not playing off each other's fairways."
Setter said the club is looking at Monday nights for a special deal where children are free if they're golfing with a paying adult.
The Didsbury Golf Club is located on the west end of town at the end of 20th Avenue. The nine-hole course provides easy access for all ages with an easy-to-walk course with a mixture of narrow and wide fairways.
The club has different events each weekday. Men's league goes Monday nights; ladies' drop-in league is Tuesday mornings; 50+ seniors' goes Wednesday mornings; ladies' fun night is on Thursday nights; and Friday is "nine and dine" featuring a round of golf, steak dinner and beverage.
The popular junior program goes Thursday mornings starting in July. Each junior membership gives you access to the program, which includes seven free golf lessons with a CPGA professional and a wind-up party.
The club has a full restaurant, pro shop and also features tournaments throughout the year including the Mountain View Colts tournament in June, Mr./Mrs. and Him/Hers in July and the Gil's Truck and Auto junior golf fundraiser in September.
For more information on each golf course please visit their respective websites and/or Facebook pages.
