SUNDRE – Plenty of lingering, late-season snow hampered hopes to hit the greens a little sooner this year, but the local courses are shaping up and expecting to soon get fully into the swing of things.
“It’s looking good,” Scott Shouldice, Sundre Golf Club head golf pro, told the Albertan on April 19.
“There’s still a little bit of snow out there kind of in the trees and the shaded areas, but it’s melting pretty quick. It’s looking really good so far from what we’ve seen,” said Shouldice.
However, while they had hoped to get the season started on April 28, Shouldice said the decision was made to hold off another week.
“After speaking with our superintendent, we’re going to push it back to May the 5th,” he said. “It’s pretty wet; they’re still having trouble getting machinery out on the course.”
So there was a consensus that opening on April 28 would be pushing it too much and potentially put the course at risk of damage, he said.
“We want to make sure the course is in really good shape when we open,” he said. “It’s been kind of a long winter; it’s going to be a little bit later opening for us this year.”
Golfers planning to loosen up their shoulders and practise their swing at the driving range will also have to exercise their patience just a little longer.
“The driving range is pretty shaded; there’s still quite a bit of snow actually on there,” he said. “If we can, we might open it a week early, but we’ll have to kind of wait and see how that goes.”
Later this summer, the Sundre Golf Club will be hosting an Alberta Golf amateur team event as well as a U.S. women’s amateur qualifier, he said.
“It’s the first time they’ve actually had one in Canada,” he said about the latter. “They’re qualifying for the U.S. women’s amateur tournament, which is kind of the biggest amateur golf tournament in the U.S.”
For Sundre to host that qualifier will place a spotlight not only on the club but also provide exposure for the entire town, he said.
Over at Coyote Creek Golf and RV Resort, new head golf pro Jason Upton said on April 19 that a tentative opening date had not yet been set.
But the course’s superintendent of 20 years, Dan Layden, sounded pleased by conditions so far.
“The course fared really well; greens are perfect, tees are perfect, fairways are good – maybe a few blemishes but they’re still pretty good,” said Layden.
“The biggest thing is if your greens come through winter, you’re usually off to a good start,” he said. “I expect opening day, it’ll be in pretty good shape.”
When that day will be remained elusive and hinged on the weather.
“We still have a lot of snow in our north facing tree lines, so they’re fairly deep and that’s usually what holds us back every year,” he said, hopeful about the possibility of opening by the first weekend in May.
“It’s kind of what we’re hoping for, but that’s not set in stone of course,” he said.
Upton added seasonal residents had already begun eagerly returning to the RV park despite the weather that remained cool.
Above and beyond hosting local charity events, Coyote Creek was also selected by Alberta Golf to host the 2023 Alberta Women’s Senior Championship later in July, Layden said.
And not far from Sundre to the northeast in the Eagle Hill area, the head pro at Forest Heights Golf Course also expressed enthusiasm for the coming season.
“It’s been a long winter, but we got lots of good moisture out of all that snow; just waiting for some of the frost to still come out,” Ted Bach said on April 20 during an interview.
“Everything seems to have come through the winter really nicely and we’ve got a lot of excitement in the marketplace; there’s lots of golfers that are phoning and we’ve got a lot more members this year again too,” he said. “So, we’re looking forward to a really good season.”
Weather permitting, the course is expected to open May 1, said Bach.
“With any luck, we’ll get some nice weather and we can get going,” he said, adding most of the course’s corporate tournaments have committed to returning, with several charity events also lined up throughout the coming months.
So far, the RV park’s 25 existing seasonal sites are already full, with an additional 20 new sites – which are part of an expansion approved by Mountain View County – that will be available in June, he said.
“All of our park people are really enjoying the Sundre area and they sure appreciate the community around here,” he said.
