Kelowna

Don’t dust off your golf clubs just yet.

Many Okanagan golf course have delayed their opening days due to the weather.

General manager of the Harvest Golf Club, Gilles Dufort, says they are looking at a later than usual opening day this year, due to the extended winter the area has had.

“We still have some snow on our courses. We need at least a week of good weather or a good rain to melt everything. However, there is no evidence that the extreme cold has damaged our turf,” says Dufort.

He says the club usually opens between March 15 and 20, but due to the snow, this year’s opening day could be as late as March 30.

“On the sunny side, I think after such a long, cold winter, especially with all the grim economic news we keep hearing, people will be looking forward to being able to go outside, to enjoy a game of golf with their friends.”

The situation is the same at the Sunset Ranch Golf Course.

Pro shop manager, Scotty Cameron says they usually start to see foot traffic by this time of year.

“It’s been slower than usual, not as many people coming in to pay their green fees or take advantage of our early bird deals. Which makes sense because our greens are covered with as much as a foot of snow in some places,” says Cameron.

He says this could be an unprecedented year for them in terms of their opening date.

“We could be looking at an opening day in early April. Usually we are open by mid-March, but not this year. We need a couple of weeks of warmer temperatures to melt everything.”

Cameron says there is a positive side to the snow.

“It has provided insulation to our turf, so we haven’t lost any of our grass to frostbite.”

Ian Robertson, general manager for both Kelowna Springs and Shannon Lake Golf Courses says their opening days have also been pushed back by about ten days.

Gabor Friscka of Environment Canada says this winter is the coldest winter the Okanagan has faced since the early 1990s.

Low temperature records were broken in Kelowna both Monday and Tuesday mornings, with Tuesday’s morning temperature reaching -20.