Golf clubs across the province were “busy from sun-up to sundown” in 2020, and all indications are the coming season will be just as hectic, according to Golf Saskatchewan Executive-Director Brian Lee.
“In spite of the pandemic and the public health restrictions, most clubs reported a big increase in the number of players,” said Lee in an interview March 24. “The demand for spots on golf courses was really high, in part because golf was one of the few sports that were deemed to be safe within the guidelines set out by public health officials.”
Lee said there was a “re-set” for many clubs.
“Everyone had to have a scheduled tee time,” said Lee. “There were no walk-up tee times available; the demand was that great.”
Lee said there’s likely to be a similar dynamic in play this year.
“The provincial business response team has communicated to us that once the snow melts and the courses are ready, then play can resume according to the guidelines in the provincial reopening plan,” he said. “Some adjustments may have to be made, but as it stands now, it looks like the season could start earlier than last year.”
That’s good news for the Legends Golf Club in Warman.
Last year, a massive dump of snow the weekend before the May 15 scheduled opening shortened the season by a couple of weeks. But even with the loss of a good chunk of May, the club saw one of the busiest summers in its ten year history.
“We had a really good season last year,” said Legends General Manager Davidson Matyczuk in an interview March 24. “Our membership is up, and we’re in good shape financially. I expect the coming season will also be busy.”
One of the growth areas for the club last year was with junior golfers. Matyczuk said there were a lot of youngsters out on the driving range, taking lessons, and playing regular rounds..
The Legends Golf Club is scheduled to host three provincial golf championships this year, all taking place July 27-29. They include the 102nd Senior Men’s, the 58th Senior Women’s and the 16th Mid-Masters tournaments.
“There are some very good senior golfers, those age 55 and older, who will be competing,” said Matyczuk. “The Mid-Masters is an age group that includes those 45 and older.”
He said the club replaced its five-year old electric golf cart fleet last year with new gas-powered carts.
“It was a good decision,” said Matyczuk. “When the pandemic hit, that meant we had to have a separate cart for every player. And the batteries on the electric carts were getting older and weren’t able to hold a charge as long. So that would have been a challenge because there wouldn’t have been enough time in between rounds to recharge the batteries.
“With the gas-powered carts, there was no problem. As soon as a golfer brought a cart in; it was disinfected, refuelled and sent right back out again with another golfer.”
Matyczuk said the public health restrictions forced the club’s restaurant to remain closed all season. But, he added, the ‘grab and go’ concession was popular.
“We were able to control expenses and our revenues were up because we had good traffic,” said Matyczuk.
He said he expects the same public health protocols to be in effect this coming year. Indoor masking and tee times at ten-minute intervals will ensure everyone’s safety, he added.
Matyczuk said there’s no shortage of groundwork to be done before the course opens.
“We’re busy getting everything prepared, but we’re still probably another four weeks away from opening at the earliest,” he said. “The driving range might open a little earlier than the course itself.
“Of course, it also depends a lot on the weather. At this point we don’t have a firm date.”
Matyczuk said there is still some snow cover on parts of the course, and there will be significant pumping to be done from the storm water ponds as runoff accumulates.
The grounds staff sprayed the greens and other critical areas of the course last fall to prevent snow mould, and Matyczuk said those efforts appear to have paid off.
He said there was good snow cover for most of the winter, which helped protect the course.
“We’re looking forward to the opening in a few weeks,” he said. “We don’t know exactly when that will be, but whenever it comes, we’ll be ready.”
In addition to the Legends, the region boasts several other courses including Valley Regional Park in Rosthern, Pine Ridge Golf Club in Waldheim, Valleyview Golf and Country Club in Delisle, the Dakota Dunes Golf Club on the Whitecap First Nation, Moon Lake Golf Club and the Par 3 Valley Road Golf Course in Corman Park.
Lee said there are dozens of high-quality golf courses across the province, and the coming season provides a good opportunity for golfers to check them out.
“I’ll borrow a line from Tourism Sask,” said Lee. “Explore your own backyard. We have great number of facilities and we hope people will go and visit and experience them while playing golf in a safe manner this summer.”