It’s November already, but golfers are still squeezing in a few more rounds on the links before winter sets in.
At Cattail Crossing Golf Course, the greens are partially winterized, but it’s still open.
“We’ve done some aeration around our collars and all the fairways and teas, greens have been sprayed for snow mold,” said Matt Brown, the greens keeper.
“Now we’re just waiting for golf to finish, then we’ll cover them in about an inch of sand and that’ll be them for winter.”
With the grass still soft during the day and not fully dormant, the game goes on.
“In the colder mornings you get heavy frost, so you have to keep people off greens especially, and ideally the course,” Brown said. “Once the frost is gone, it’s pretty good.
“We’re closely monitoring all the temperatures overnight and potential snowfall and pretty much playing it by ear.”
The greens aren’t being mowed now that they’ve been sprayed, so anyone venturing out should expect slower greens.
“The team on the maintenance side is doing an awesome job, it’s very playable,” said Ryan Dyck, the course’s head golf professional.
“I wouldn’t say it’s as good as it is in June and July, but it’s definitely up there … I haven’t seen a frown yet.”
Edmonton city-run courses closed on Oct. 20 and others still open are on borrowed time.
Rain and wet flurries are expected in the Edmonton area as daytime highs are set to drop throughout the weekend, according to CTV News Edmonton’s chief meteorologist Josh Classen.
“At 62, this is the first time I’ve been out golfing in November … I probably get in about 40 rounds a year,” said golfer Dan Summers. “I can not believe it.”
“The weather’s great … anything after 10 degrees, we’re good to roll,” said golfer Owen.
“I took the day off work to come out and play golf today, my boss didn’t seem to have much of an issue with that,” said golfer Trey.
Some golfers had trouble getting a tee time, but they’reglad they made the effort.
“Winter’s coming, so just being able to come out here and do this this time of year is great,” said golfer Chad.
“I just don’t understand all the other courses, I don’t know why they aren’t open too, because they could be still going at it until now.”
In general, 2024 has been a good year for golfing, with the course’s professional golfer saying the weather has been great since June. So, November golf isn’t a huge surprise.
“The guys that come out and play in November are usually guys that you’ll see golf any day – rain, wind, snow, all summer – they’re just happy to be out,” Dyck said.
“We had 140 people out golfing today. I would say we probably turned away 500 people today.”
Cattail Crossing Golf Course is currently only booking tee times until Monday.
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson