Green is the colour: City-owned golf courses set to open in Regina

It’s almost tee time in Regina.

Brian Dueck, the head professional at the Joanne Goulet Golf Course, told Greg Morgan Morning Show guest host Kevin Martel that preparations are well underway for the start of the season.

The course is to open Monday, and tee times can be booked starting Wednesday at 7 p.m.

“It’s quite hectic here,” Dueck said Tuesday. “Everything came very quickly. (In) typical years, we kind of dip our toes in the shallow end and wade into the season, but we’re getting into the water quickly here.”

The four city-owned courses in Regina are to have a staggered start to the season.

The Murray Golf Course and 18 holes at the Tor Hill Golf Course are to open Friday. The Goulet, the Lakeview Par-3 and the other nine holes at the Tor Hill are to open Monday.

But the driving ranges at the Goulet, Murray and Tor Hill opened Saturday, and Dueck said the range at his course has been “hopping.”

“For sure (it’s like this every year), especially for the people who haven’t had a chance to get away this winter maybe and are just itching to get the clubs out,” Dueck said. “It’s great to see.

“We see a lot of smiles. We have five-year-olds up to 95-year-olds out there (at the range), so it’s great.”

Golfers likely thought they’d be hitting the links earlier this spring after Regina experienced a stretch of warm weather. But then a nasty snowstorm blew through Saskatchewan in mid-April and dumped more snow on the city.

Dueck said that snow created runoff in the creek that runs through the Goulet, but the white stuff didn’t cause too many problems.

“There was a lot of moisture in that,” he said. “As much as it pushed the start back a little bit, the moisture was really nice.”

Now that the snow is gone and the course has dried out, it’s time for golfers to tee it up.

“From what I’ve seen so far – I haven’t seen it all – (the course) looks good,” Dueck said. “We need the creek to recede a little bit, but it probably will in the next day or two.

“It doesn’t look like there’s much moisture in the forecast. We’re looking forward to a good season.”