Alberta: Global-Warming weather chaos breaking golf courses.

Ma Nature fed up wih being golf widow Crazy weather wreaking havoc with local courses

By ROBERT TYCHKOWSKI, EDMONTON SUN

Apparently Mother Nature is a golf widow.

And she is so fed up with Father Nature and his daily skins games with Father Time and Old Man River that she's sticking it to the whole industry.

So here we are, nearing mid-May for Pete's sake, and the courses are buried under more snow than Siberian coffins.

'We're all desperately hoping for some good weather,'' said Dave Lengyel, head pro at The Ranch. 'Whatever happened to the good old days when the snow melted in spring, stayed melted, you played golf all season and then it snowed again in October?

'It's tough to get used to this Alberta weather. I'm from Alberta and I'm still not used to it.''

Who is?

Players are growing frustrated, courses are going broke and nobody's sure when the slop will finally dry up for good.

'I think we'll need about four or five days from after it stops snowing,'' said Ron Belbin, director of golf at Broadmoor in Sherwood Park.

'There's going to be a lot of water lying around when this melts. We need heat.''

'My guess is at least into next week,'' said Lengyel. 'With all the shade that we have, if they're not out in the sun they're going to be under water.''

It's officially getting ridiculous.

Last year was brutal with the late start and a summer-long drought that turned everything to dust.

Now this.

The first day of spring is officially March 20, a full 49 days ago, and most of the courses have only seen eight or nine days of business.

'The 10-year average opening is April 20,'' said Belbin.

'Last year it was May 8 and this year who knows when we'll be open for good. We've already opened and closed three times because of the snowfalls.''

Brutal.

'There's no doubt that with a short season like we have in Alberta it really hurts everyone when you have something like this that costs you a week,'' said Stony Plain Golf Course head pro Grant Cammidge, who's hoping they can open 'for the third time this year'' on the weekend.

NEED A LITTLE WARMTH

'We didn't get the same snow that the city did. We'll be in great shape once we get a little warmth.''

If you're about ready to take a pitching wedge to the next weathergirl who chuckles through another snowy forecast, imagine how the people who earn their living from the game feel.

'This is two springs in a row that we've been kicked pretty hard,'' said Raven Crest head pro Bill Newbigging.

'I feel bad for the whole industry. It's affecting everyone.

''Farmers and superintendents are the only happy ones. For everyone else, it's pretty hard.

''You either can't play golf or you have no revenue coming in.''

AN INCENTIVE PACKAGE

Most head pros get a slice of pro shop sales and green fees as an incentive package, but it's worked out to a slice of nothing for the last few weeks.

'I've lost thousands already, money that's unrecoverable,'' said Newbigging. 'It's like being a scratch golfer who's 10-over after two holes.

''You spend the rest of the round trying to catch up.''

When a course factors in lost green fees, cart rentals, equipment sales, tournament bookings and beverage money, they're watching five figures a day melt into nothing.

'Everybody is hurting pretty badly,'' said Belbin.

'From our point of view it's probably $10,000 a day. But I still maintain that it's too early to panic. I've always been pretty optimistic - you have to be because there's not a heck of a lot you can do.''

At The Ranch, where much of the staff is on salary, the job jar is just about empty as they try to keep their people busy.

'We're starting to run out of projects for the guys,'' said Lengyel. 'I know one thing, we'll have the cleanest fleet of power carts in the province once we open again.

'And we have sold more toques and cart mitts than we ever have before, so I guess that's something.''

Ma Nature fed up wih being golf widow Crazy weather wreaking havoc with local courses

By ROBERT TYCHKOWSKI, EDMONTON SUN

Apparently Mother Nature is a golf widow.

And she is so fed up with Father Nature and his daily skins games with Father Time and Old Man River that she's sticking it to the whole industry.

So here we are, nearing mid-May for Pete's sake, and the courses are buried under more snow than Siberian coffins.

'We're all desperately hoping for some good weather,'' said Dave Lengyel, head pro at The Ranch. 'Whatever happened to the good old days when the snow melted in spring, stayed melted, you played golf all season and then it snowed again in October?

'It's tough to get used to this Alberta weather. I'm from Alberta and I'm still not used to it.''

Who is?

Players are growing frustrated, courses are going broke and nobody's sure when the slop will finally dry up for good.

'I think we'll need about four or five days from after it stops snowing,'' said Ron Belbin, director of golf at Broadmoor in Sherwood Park.

'There's going to be a lot of water lying around when this melts. We need heat.''

'My guess is at least into next week,'' said Lengyel. 'With all the shade that we have, if they're not out in the sun they're going to be under water.''

It's officially getting ridiculous.

Last year was brutal with the late start and a summer-long drought that turned everything to dust.

Now this.

The first day of spring is officially March 20, a full 49 days ago, and most of the courses have only seen eight or nine days of business.

'The 10-year average opening is April 20,'' said Belbin.

'Last year it was May 8 and this year who knows when we'll be open for good. We've already opened and closed three times because of the snowfalls.''

Brutal.

'There's no doubt that with a short season like we have in Alberta it really hurts everyone when you have something like this that costs you a week,'' said Stony Plain Golf Course head pro Grant Cammidge, who's hoping they can open 'for the third time this year'' on the weekend.

NEED A LITTLE WARMTH

'We didn't get the same snow that the city did. We'll be in great shape once we get a little warmth.''

If you're about ready to take a pitching wedge to the next weathergirl who chuckles through another snowy forecast, imagine how the people who earn their living from the game feel.

'This is two springs in a row that we've been kicked pretty hard,'' said Raven Crest head pro Bill Newbigging.

'I feel bad for the whole industry. It's affecting everyone.

''Farmers and superintendents are the only happy ones. For everyone else, it's pretty hard.

''You either can't play golf or you have no revenue coming in.''

AN INCENTIVE PACKAGE

Most head pros get a slice of pro shop sales and green fees as an incentive package, but it's worked out to a slice of nothing for the last few weeks.

'I've lost thousands already, money that's unrecoverable,'' said Newbigging. 'It's like being a scratch golfer who's 10-over after two holes.

''You spend the rest of the round trying to catch up.''

When a course factors in lost green fees, cart rentals, equipment sales, tournament bookings and beverage money, they're watching five figures a day melt into nothing.

'Everybody is hurting pretty badly,'' said Belbin.

'From our point of view it's probably $10,000 a day. But I still maintain that it's too early to panic. I've always been pretty optimistic - you have to be because there's not a heck of a lot you can do.''

At The Ranch, where much of the staff is on salary, the job jar is just about empty as they try to keep their people busy.

'We're starting to run out of projects for the guys,'' said Lengyel. 'I know one thing, we'll have the cleanest fleet of power carts in the province once we open again.

'And we have sold more toques and cart mitts than we ever have before, so I guess that's something.''