Mike Foulon of Summerland made the trip to Osoyoos Tuesday morning to get in a round of golf at the Osoyoos Golf Club. He and two friends hit the driving range before their round. Osoyoos Golf Club and Sonora Dunes Golf Course are now open for the 2015 season.
KEITH LACEY
While most of the rest of Canada continues to battle Mother Nature through another brutal winter, golfers in the South Okanagan – and here in Osoyoos – were wearing nothing but smiles last week as the 2015 golf season officially got underway.
Sonora Dunes Golf Course, located at the Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort and Spa, actually opened more than two weeks ago.
This past Saturday, a large contingent of golfers hit the links for what promises to be a long and glorious golf season at the Osoyoos Golf Club.
Being able to open on Valentine’s Day is the earliest openings at Osoyoos Golf Club in the past decade, said golf club general manager Lee Sapach.
“I would say this is definitely one of the earliest openings we’ve have in the past 10 or 12 years,” he said. “I believe the earliest opening in the last 20 years was back in 1994 when we opened during the last week of January, but this is certainly an early opening date and we’re very pleased to be back in business.”
As has become custom at Osoyoos Golf Club, the Desert Gold course opens two or three weeks before the Park Meadows Course will be open to members and green fee players, said Sapach.
“It was a very mild winter with the exception of the big storm in January,” he said. “We had a little tree damage on a few holes on the Park Meadows course as a result of that storm, but it has all been cleaned up.
“We’ve got all 18 holes on Desert Gold open and hopefully we’ll be able to open Park Meadows in the next couple of weeks.”
Osoyoos Golf Club will operate with a limited staff for the first several weeks, but all of their regular employees should be back before the end of March, he said.
The driving range opened last Wednesday and there have been many people out to hit balls every single day since it opened, he said.
Greg Bourne, the general manager of Sonora Dunes golf course, said the course opened in early February and has been busy since as gorgeous weather has blessed Osoyoos.
Osoyoos Golf Club has different membership packages. You can get more information by calling 250-495-7003 or visiting the website at www.golfosoyoos.com.
For more information about Sonora Dunes Golf Course call 250-495-4653 or visit www.sonoradunes.com.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
