Cheers to that Darius!

I hope that your winter has been fairly mild this year given that it was late in coming.

I'm fortunate that many of our courses out here on the west coast stay open all year round. And, we have had a fairly mild winter too -- plenty of rain, but lots of stretches of nice sunny and warm days too.

Just think -- 50/53 days until the Masters in Augusta! (I hesitate with an actual number because my friends and I debate when it really starts -- ie: Monday at Augusta or when they tee it up for real on Thursday!)

Any plans for golf travel this year?

Hey Darius and Dino,

Well said - 80 Days doesnt sound so bad. I think the extra wait to May 1st probably serves your course well.

And my two cents Dino for what its worth - Masters week starts the Monday, The Masters starts the Thursday. Asks your friends when the US Open starts - Monday or Thursday. I hope your on the winning end.

All the best Guys,

Alex Z

Dino... lad to hear you have had some good weather for golfing out on the west coast. I will join the debate on when the Masters starts... Although I like watching the par three contest, to me the Masters really starts on Thursday when they tee it up for the tournament. I fondly look forward to the music they play as they move to commercial :)

Hey Darius. That still seems so long with a minus -20 deg wind chill this weekend. Yikes!
I was lucky that I just got to play 2 rounds in Punta cana last week to scratch the winter itch so to speak.
hang in there buddy, the ground hog isn't always right ;)
James G

We don't have any set dates for course openings in the southern most part of Ontario but typically it's the last week of March/first week of April. Being that it's been a mild winter thus far, I'm hoping for March. I believe it was three years ago we had a mild winter and some record high temps in March which resulted in some courses opening on St. Patrick's Day. It was warm enough to play in shorts that day, talk about a treat!
So here's hoping for an early spring... I'm counting the days too!

Well only about 35 days until my course opens. A short Par 3 course around the corner is open all year when there is no snow and managed to play in the sunshine and 12 degree temps on Thursday. Right now the weather is quite nice in sunny southern Alberta.

Alex - I do have to admit it is tough when the course doesn't open until May 1 when the weather is nice earlier in April, but you are correct about the course conditions. Our course opens May 1 and closes October 31 regardless of the weather. Having the extra time in the spring gives them a chance to really get things in shape and by closing earlier in the fall they can make sure they can put the course to bed for the winter. Last year when we opened in May our greens were in perfect condition when many others had experienced a lot of winter kill.
The trade off from getting in a few extra rounds is worth it to have such perfect conditions.
Darius

Our course usually aims for the last weekend in April/first weekend in May. Some of us were thinking that the mild winter might lead to an earlier opening this year but then Mother Nature sent us a couple of snow bombs - 50cms of the stuff in the last one. Hopefully no more so we can still make a target of 1 May