IRON RIVER, Wis. (Northern News Now) – For many Northlanders, one thing they have to wait for longer than most people in the state, is to hit the golf course.
This weekend, golfers can rejoice as many courses around the Twin Ports have announced they will be open after a heavy snow just a week ago.
“They were wet, really wet about three days ago, and since then it’s just dried out great,” said Tim Landgreen, owner of the Northern Pines Golf Course for the past 25 years.
For the past quarter century, Landgreen has had to deal with finding out the best time to open his course.
“It’s been a really long winter like they always are in Northern Wisconsin. We’re always looking at, do we need to remove some to get things to open up a little better?” asked Landgreen.
“We’ve finally discovered to let mother nature do her thing; it’s better for everybody. It’s less work for us, and when it’s ready, it’s ready.”
With a warm forecast this weekend, Landgreen, along with many other course owners in the Twin Ports have already been receiving a ton of phone calls from excited golfers. Most owners consider this weekend the typical time of year they open.
”We’re looking for some warmer weather on Saturday and Sunday, so we thought, ‘you know what, people are getting anxious, let’s open it up.‘”
Some courses, like Hidden Green Acres and Proctor, opened up before last week’s snow dump, which allowed some student-athletes to get in some much needed training.
“(I’m) Super excited. I know the snow has been delaying this for the past couple of weeks,” said Anderson Kurtti, a junior on the Northwestern High School Golf Team. “We hit up Proctor like two weeks ago, but then snow came again. We really just want to get out there.”
Northwestern is the northernmost team in their conference, and while many of their opponents are finding the greens, they’ve had to work on their skills indoors.
“We’re inside, but we make the most of it, so we roll out the mats, hit into a curtain and get the launch monitors out and give the kids the information we can, but obviously it’s not like the real thing,” said Head Coach Nick Olson.
“In here, we like can’t practice in a sand trap,” said junior golfer Noah Bourque. “So, getting out there is just getting the experience, especially when you’re in a tournament, you’re going to see different shots everywhere, in here it’s the same.”
Northwestern’s home course Botten’s Green Acres plans to open to the public this weekend and have the team out for next week’s practice.
Below is a list of public courses expected to open as weather permits:
Northern Pines Golf Course to open on Saturday, April 19, with carts available.Proctor Golf Course to open Saturday, April 19, with carts available.Grand View Golf Links to open on Saturday, April 19, with carts available.Botten’s Green Acres to open Saturday, April 19, walking only.Nemadji Golf Course is closed, but practice facilities will be open on Friday, April 18.Hidden Greens Golf Course has not made an announcement since closing on March 31.Lakeview National Golf Course has made no announcement yet.Norwood Acres Golf Course has made no announcement.Chequagemon Bay Golf Course has made no announcement.
Keep up to date on any changes during the week by following each courses respective Facebook pages.
The Northwestern golf team is currently raising funds in hopes of getting a golf simulator for the team. If you wish to donate, click here.
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