Source: The Boston Globe
According to golf course operators, professionals and superintendents, this is the latest start to the local golf season in recent memory.
"Our owner, Walter Lankau, says the latest we've ever opened has been April 10 and it looks like it could be close to that for us this year," said David Carlson, head professional at Stow Acres Country Club.
Carlson has been getting, "what seems like 200 calls a day from golfers wanting to know when we will open. All I can tell them is when the snow clears."
More than 50 percent of the 36-hole course was covered with snow earlier in the week. "We need warm, 60-degree weather and warm nights," said Carlson. "When the snow is gone and we can play all the greens - we don't use temporary greens here - we will open the course."
Even Cape Cod courses, usual havens for hearty hackers who don't mind freezing temperatures, have been closed most of the winter.
Hyannis Golf Club usually remains open during the winter, but this year has been a different story because of all the snow that hit the Cape.
Nevertheless, Hyannis has been open sporadically. "One reason is our owner, Fordie Pitts, he is a real pusher," said head professional David Porkka. "He loves the game and wants to play every chance he can. Unfortunately, this winter there was too much snow. We did open for a week. But after a few days it snowed again."
Hyannis reopened last weekend. Drive carts are permitted on the course, and all tees and greens are in use. "We never used temporary greens," said Porkka.
Other courses on the Cape and the South Shore are beginning to open.
"We got 96 inches of snow this winter and we haven't been able to open once," said John Johnson, golf shop supervisor at Sandwich Hollows Golf Club on Cape Cod.
"We usually are able to stay open all winter, or at least for a week here and there. The last three winters have been bad, but this winter has been the worst," said Johnson, who is planning to open any day.
Crosswinds Golf Club in Plymouth still has plenty of snow. "We're hoping to open by April 8," said Marcia Anderson, who works in the pro shop. "A lot of golfers have been calling, and all I can tell them is we hope to open in a week or so, but that April 8 date is not set in stone. Hopefully, the snow will be gone by then."
Anderson said the maintenance crew needs time to "get out and clean up all the debris left by the winter storms. We had more than 3 feet of snow."
Pinehills Golf Club, also in Plymouth, may open this weekend. "It depends on how much rain we get and if we get a couple of warm days," said professional Andy Wade.
Closer to Boston, Chris Sleeper, the director of golf at Granite Links Golf Course in Quincy, hopes to open April 15. "There is still snow on some of the fairways," he said. "Our superintendent and his crew haven't had a chance to go out there and clean it up. But if we have any luck with the weather, we'll open by April 15. But, of course, this is New England and it could be snowing on April 15."
Jim Fitzroy, the superintendent at Presidents Golf Course, said the course is close to opening. "If you commute on the Expressway, you see bare fairways and no snow at all," said Fitzroy. "That's because it is a southwest exposure. If you saw the other side of the hill, there is still snow that needs to melt."
North of Boston, John O'Connor, the head professional at Far Corner Golf Course in Boxford, hopes his course is open in the next week or two.
"Our superintendent cleared the greens and now we're just waiting for some of the snow on the fairways to melt so that we can play," he said. "We are usually one of the first clubs to open in our area, and we've always been open before April, but not this year. Last year, as cold as it was, we were open in mid-March."