THUNDER BAY – Pat Berezowski says barring any weather challenges, it looks like the city-owned golf courses will be open no later than May 8.
It’s an exciting time of year, said Berezowski, whose crews are putting the finishing touches on Stratchcona and Chapples golf courses, having opened the driving range on Thursday night at the latter.
“Always at the start of the season, the driving range opens first and then the courses,” Berezowski said on Friday.
“It gives us a chance to get things prepped. Our grounds crew only started on Monday, so it’s kind of go-time for them, getting everything ready. Our staff started on Monday as well, so back in selling memberships and giving out information to people. It gives us a chance to maybe flush out any problems and get started.”
The relatively mild Thunder Bay weather has both courses in great shape, he added.
“You know what? I’ve never seen conditions like this, especially the greens. They look phenomenal at this time of year. There are really no dead spots on the greens. They’re healthy. They look good. We’re starting to groom them this week to bring them down to a good putting height, so we’ve got some speed to start out with,” Berezowski said.
“It’s just phenomenal.”
On the start date, Berezowski said he didn’t want to over-promise, but he did say there’s a chance golfers could be teeing it up ahead of the scheduled start of the season.
We’ll see, he said.
“We’re trying to shoot for May 8, and if it’s sooner, it’s sooner and it’ll be a surprise to the public,” Berezowski said.
Memberships are still available.
Several privately-owned clubs have already opened for the season, though are only operational depending on the conditions.
