Local courses are ready to tee off for another round of golf this season.
Today the Sandpiper Golf & Country Club opens on permanent greens.
“The greens are in the best shape I have seen coming out of winter. The snow cover we had was like a big blanket on the greens,” said Kevin Easthope, Sandpiper’s head golf pro and general manager. “With our new turf manager John Boyle coming in this year from New Brunswick we are expecting very good course conditions.”
The Sandpiper plays 6,700 yards from the back tees and 5,600 yards from the forward tees. Water comes into play on 17 of the 18 holes with well-placed bunkers on many of the 18 holes.
Last weekend Sandpiper’s driving range opened for business.
To book tee times, call 780-408-8687 or visit www.countryclubtour.com.
The Twin Willows Golf Club expects to have nine holes playable by Friday and all 18 holes will be open this weekend.
“The greens have wintered very well, so we will open directly onto permanent greens,” said Ed Sims of Twin Willows. “This will be the latest opening date in my 29 years as superintendent here. Records from 1964 to 1982 (when the course was still part of Sturgeon County before being annexed by the City of Edmonton) would indicate that this may actually be the latest opening date in the 49 years of existence.”
Twin Willows, named after the two original trees on the property that still stand in the middle of the No. 9 fairway, consists of 45 bunkers and eight water hazards. The back nine officially opened on Aug. 2, 2003.
Tee times can be booked by calling 780-447-2934, or visit www.twinwillowsgolf.com.
Mark Beckwith, general manager of the Sturgeon Valley Golf & Country Club, was optimistic about opening this weekend at the latest, but after Monday’s snowfall is evaluating the wetness of the course.
“The course has wintered well and from what we’ve seen thus far the greens look good. Our grounds crew is busy readying the course for play and once conditions permit we will be ready to go,” Beckwith said.
The driving range opened Friday.
The Sturgeon Valley course was born on March 2, 1960 when five entrepreneurs, Frank Lieber, Harold Londry, Harold Hood, Boyce Green and William Plowman, purchased 140 acres of farmland originally homesteaded by Angus Kennedy.
Visit www.sturgeonvalleygolfclub.com to book tee times.
The Cardiff Golf & Country Club is projecting May 7 as its season opener.
“The dedicated maintenance staff is doing everything they can to make it sooner, but Mother Nature has to cooperate a little bit for us too,” said head golf pro Trevor Commet. “The golf course has wintered well, the greens look fantastic and we are excited to get open soon.”
The driving range is open for the season.
Visit www.cardiffgolfclub.ca to book tee times on a course that was built on one of Alberta’s first underground coal mines.
The J.R. Golf Course is playing the waiting game before kicking off the season.
“We had hoped to open for this coming weekend, but we will have to see how much rain/snow we get here in the next couple of days,” said manager Joan Reyda. “So far the golf course looks really good. The greens came through very well, but they need some heat to really start growing.”
For updates, visit www.jrgolfcourse.ca
The J.R. course has been a fixture in the area since 1984 after construction started in 1971.
To reserve a tee time up to seven days in advance, call 780-459-8735.
PUTTING AROUND: Information about the opening day at the Terrae Pines Golf & Country Club was unavailable at press time.
Visit www.terraepines.com for updates.
