After another long winter, local golfers are joyous once again as the 2014 golf season is officially underway in Osoyoos as both the Osoyoos Golf Club and the Sonora Dunes Golf Course opened for business last week. Local golfer Bill Collins enjoyed the beautiful sunshine while hitting balls on the range at the Osoyoos Golf Club on Tuesday. (Keith Lacey photo)
There are only two seasons for most golfers in Osoyoos – golf season and the three or four months when the courses are closed.
Thankfully golf season is back after Mother Nature hit the South Okanagan and Osoyoos a little harder than usual this past winter.
The Osoyoos Golf Club officially opened its 2014 golf season last Friday morning, while the Sonora Dunes Golf Course at the Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort and Spa opened early last week.
“It’s good to be back,” said Lee Sapach, the longtime head professional at the Osoyoos Golf Club who is entering his third year as the club’s general manager. “It has been a little longer winter than usual, but the course looks good and we’re glad to be back in business.”
The Desert Gold course is now open to all members and green fee players with the Park Meadows course not likely to open for another 10 days to two weeks as that course receives more snow and less sunlight than Desert Gold, said Sapach.
“We have all 18 holes on the Desert Gold course ready to go and we’ll open Park Meadows once things dry up a little more,” he said.
The driving range opened early last week and was extremely busy and he expects the Desert Gold course to be very busy as the season opened two weeks later than usual, said Sapach.
“We usually aim for a late February or early March opening, but we had to wait a little longer because of the winter weather,” he said. “The good news is we’re back and anxious for another long season of golf.”
Green fee players can play 18 holes with a cart for $59 for the first few weeks, he said.
The club is continuing to keep its initiation fee at $2,000 for 2014 and membership fees have also not been raised, he said.
Over at Sonora Dunes Golf Course, general manager Greg Bourne said the course “wintered very well” and appears in great shape despite the long winter.
“The course looks fantastic and the greens are in really good shape,” he said. “We were quite busy for opening week and we’re looking forward to an excellent season.”
This is the 10th anniversary for Sonora Dunes and he and staff are looking forward to a busy 2014, he said.
Green fees are $20 for nine holes and $30 for 18.
For more information on the Osoyoos Golf Course, go online and visit www.golfosoyoos.com. For more information on Sonora Dunes, visit www.spiritridge.ca.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
