Cold means no early start for golf courses, snow is welcomed

While Regina residents might be hoping to trade in swinging a shovel for swinging a club, an early start to the golf season doesn’t seem all that likely.

Record-breaking cold temperatures and large snowfalls dominated the end of March and early parts of April. Parts of the province received more snow in March than the entire stretch of October to February.

That’s a far cry from last year when courses could open early, like the Royal Regina Golf Course opening up on April 7, 2017.

“We want to have people around the golf course and playing and enjoying the game but the reality is, when you look at the last 10-year history of golf courses, we predominately open the third week of April and that’s what we’re hoping for,” Kyle Mulligan, general manager of the Royal Regina Golf Course, said.

But the weather hasn’t been all bad news for courses. The snow has helped bring some much needed moisture to courses in and around the Queen City.

“The Wascana creek was quite low at the end of last year and the runoff we get just helps us throughout the entire golf season,” Mulligan said. “All-in-all, even though it’s a later start, nobody likes a later start it’s going to be a very positive start with all the moisture that we’ve had.”

Mulligan said everyone at the course is excited for the season to begin but until then, they will be keeping an eye on Tiger Woods this weekend as he contends for the top spot at The Masters.