An early spring got the ball rolling this season for local golf courses.
At the Sandpiper Golf & Country Club, golf enthusiasts started driving for show and putting for dough April 10.
“The course wintered very well. Greens are all perfect,” said Kevin Easthope, Sandpiper’s head golf pro and general manager. “The course was dry and not a puddle on it. John Boyle, the course superintendent, and his team over the past two years have taken the course to the best conditions in 23 years.”
The Sandpiper is situated along the Sturgeon River and water comes into play on 17 of the 18 holes. The majority of the holes consist of well-placed bunkers.
The front nine plays more links style and the back nine is cut out of the trees, featuring some of the best finishing holes around.
To book tee times, call 780-408-8687 or visit www.countryclubtour.com.
Sandpiper will also be running its popular junior golf camps, starting the last weekend in May. The kids’ course is also open and it’s free to play on with a food bank donation.
The Twin Willows Golf Club and the J.R. Golf Course both opened April 11 on permanent greens.
This year marks the 50th anniversary for Twin Willows, named after the two original trees on the property that still stand in the middle of the No. 9 fairway.
A members’ banquet next month will kick off the celebrations.
“It would be interesting to know if any of your readers have any memories or stories about the course from the 1960s or ’70s,” said superintendent Ed Sims.
He still has the green fee rate card from the official opening season in 1965, when it originally operated as Golden West Golf Course, and the nine-hole rate was $1 and 18 holes were $1.50. A season’s pass was $45.
The front nine consists of large tree-lined fairways and the back nine opened on Aug. 2, 2003.
There are 45 bunkers and eight water hazards to challenge every calibre of golfer.
Call 780-447-2934 or visit www.twinwillowsgolf.com to book tee times.
At the J.R. course, located near St. Albert and a few minutes northwest of Edmonton, manager Joan Reyda reports the track wintered very well.
The new No. 1 tee box is expected to open soon and the No. 8 tee box will be rebuilt as well.
Call 780-459-8735 to reserve a tee time at the three-time winner of the Gazette’s contest for St. Albert’s favourite golf course. It’s been a fixture in the area since 1984 after construction started in 1971.
A new format for Fridays consists of no tee times; it’s first come, first served all day long and the green fee is $10 for nine holes and $20 for 18 holes.
The ladies’ league starts May 26 with tee times still available and the men’s league got going Wednesday and it’s been extended by 30 minutes to squeeze in a few extra players.
Visit www.jrgolfcourse.ca for updates.
The Terrae Pines Golf & Country Club, billed as the Gateway to the North on Highway 2, also opened Wednesday on permanent greens.
Located only four minutes north of St. Albert, it’s suitable for all levels of golfers.
Call 780-458-1122 or visit www.terraepines.com for tee times.
The Cardiff Golf & Country Club got rolling Friday.
“Greens are fantastic, the best we have ever been to open the season,” said general manager Andy Neilsen.
The course was built on one of Alberta’s first underground coal mines.
Tee time information is available through www.cardiffgolfclub.ca or 780-939-6666.
The Sturgeon Valley Golf & Country Club is waiting until this Friday before it swings into action but the driving range is already open for business.
“At that point in time it’s unlikely we’ll be on all the permanent greens. We are doing some sod work to a couple of greens that sustained some ice damage over the winter, very similar to what we did last year and we saw incredible recovery so we’re very positive and optimistic this is going to help our course out,” said general manager Mark Beckwith. “The course wintered, for the most part, fairly well. Tee boxes and fairways are good. About half to most of the greens are decent but there are some that we are working on as we speak and that’s the sod work.
“We’re optimistic to be on all the permanent greens on or before the May long weekend.”
The Sturgeon Valley course, located north of Edmonton and east of St. Albert in Sturgeon County, borders the Sturgeon River on the northwest and Sturgeon Road on the southeast. It was founded on March 2, 1960 when Frank Lieber, Harold Londry, Harold Hood, Boyce Green and William Plowman purchased 140 acres of farmland originally homesteaded by Angus Kennedy.
Tee times are available through www.sturgeonvalleygolfclub.com or call 780-973-6700 for more information.
