Golf courses in the Sundre area plan to open for the season this week.
Dean McBride, director of golf for Coyote Creek Golf Club just west of Sundre, said the course is opening Friday, weather permitting.
He is hoping for a good golf season especially because last year the course suffered from flood damage when the Red Deer River breached its banks in June.
“We've obviously fully recovered from all of the flood damage we had last year,” said McBride, adding the course is in great shape.
“I think it was great news that they're looking to putting this berm in. But of course it's a timing thing and I don't think it will be done prior to this year's runoff. So I think it's kind of on the back of everyone's mind. We're obviously praying it doesn't happen again but at the same time I guess you never know, it's Mother Nature.”
The flood forced an evacuation of the course and it was closed for roughly five weeks. Damage to the property belonging to the business was estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands and the loss of revenue from being shut down was estimated to be the same.
“We're looking forward to having a good season for a change. It's pretty tough to compare last year, with the flood – it was not what anyone really had anticipated. So we're just looking forward to hopefully getting some good weather and just getting back to having a good golf season around here because it's been a couple years since we've had decent weather,” he said.
The driving range and restaurant opened last week. Various leagues are set for the season, including men's, ladies', seniors' and couples'.
There will be a Canadian Junior Golf Association tournament held at the course in June, as well as an Alberta Golf ladies' team championship in August.
“It's a very friendly atmosphere. It's designed for golfers of all levels from the very beginner to the advanced golfer,” he said.
“It's a nice place to come from town or out of town and spend the day out here and play some golf and enjoy what we have to offer.”
The Sundre Golf Club on the east side of town is also tentatively opening on Friday, according to Colin Snair, head golf professional for the club.
The driving range and the restaurant are planned to open Friday as well.
“We weathered really well so we're hopefully going to be opening to some fantastic conditions,” said Snair.
“I believe we have one of the best facilities in the province of Alberta. Certainly we've been known as the hidden gem of Alberta in the past. We're trying to shake that stereotype because I think the golf course speaks for itself that it should be in the ranks of one of the top courses in the province.”
Various leagues are lined up for the season, including men's, ladies' and seniors' leagues. The leagues are also open to non-members, he said.
“This season we made some improvements to our restaurant facilities. We had significant upgrades so we're going to have new furniture, new kitchen appliances and such. So we're really excited to see how that goes over with the members and guests,” he said.
“We're looking forward to having a fantastic golf course to play for the summer and hopefully the weather cooperates and it's enjoyable for all.”
There are no major events or tournaments planned at the course for this season.
“This is the first year in about four years where we haven't had a big event. We've just decided it's not fair to close the golf course for a full week to our membership so we're going to take a year off and maybe re-evaluate events for 2015.”
The Forest Heights Golf Course, northeast of Sundre, may not open this week.
“We're still so up in the air because we've still got so much snow in the back nine, our greens are still frozen too,” said Leslie McCaig, general manager at the course.
Men's, ladies' and couples' leagues are set for the season. The Forest Heights open tournament will be held in July.
“We're casual and we're fun and we're economical,” said McCaig.
The courses will be wrapping up the season mid-October.
