Melting snow signals start to golf season

With snow melting quickly in Greater Sudbury, golf courses are that much closer to opening.

Sam Yawney is the president of Golf Sudbury, which includes Timberwolf Golf Course, Pine Grove Golf Course, Cedar Green Golf Club, Monte Vista Golf Course and the Stone Hill Golf Course.

Yawney said, with the initial wintery blast earlier this month, he thought golf season would be delayed.

“I was anticipating a late April to early May start, but with this huge warmup that we’ve had in the last week, I think we’ll be opening sooner than I expected,” he said.

Yawney told CTV News from what he’s seen so far, the grass looks healthy and he feels optimistic about this season.

“I think we’ll have a really good and long season,” he said.

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Jamie Camilucci is the golf course superintendent at Timberwolf Golf Course. He said crews are eagerly waiting for the snow to finish melting so that they can get to work on the greens. In the meantime, staff are prepping the machines, cutting t-blocks and sharpening the reels.

Camilucci said there’s a lot of preparation that goes into getting a golf course ready for the season.

He said as soon as the snow is melted, crews will head out and give the greens a first cut.

“We’ll be taking care of any trees that have fallen down, blowing off any debris that has fallen on the fairways before we do a first cut, then we bring out all the materials, the t-blocks, the material, the benches,” Camilucci said – adding he feels confident about this upcoming season.

Yawney said COVID-19 led a lot of people to become interested in golf, seeing an increase in women, girls and young people heading out to the fairways.

Casey MacNeil is a golf teacher at Timberwolf Golf Academy and teaches a number of programs, including some that are only offered for women. She said in her junior classes, the girls out number the boys and that it is a great way to lay a foundation for more women interested in the sport.

“I’m seeing a big draw in the girls, whether they’re doing gymnastics, dance and now adding golf into the sport they choose which is great,” MacNeil said.

Yawney said he has had a number of people reach out to ask when the season is starting and has organized a contest for people to guess when opening day will be in order to win a gift card.

While each course has different opening timeframes, Yawney estimates it will likely be within the next two weeks. 

For more information on course openings or contests visit Golf Sudbury's Facebook page.