Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat will stop them -- but put the Calgary Flames on TV, and city golfers run indoors faster than you can say "lightning."
That's the end-of-summer verdict from Terry Boldt, manager of city golf courses, as he tallies the take from a season of good weather, bad weather and, for the first time in eight years, Flames playoff hockey.
"The weather makes or breaks us by-and-large, but it didn't have as big an effect as the Flames," said Boldt.
"When the Flames were in the playoffs, people were watching hockey instead of golfing."
Calgary's public courses are running about 6% behind their $7.5-million budget target for the year, which means the good fortune of Jarome Iginla and Co. helped cost the city $500,000 in lost tee times.
Boldt said it wasn't just game days when the Flames kept golfers away because fans spent so much cash on beer and hockey souvenirs, there was little left for fairway fun.
"If they spent $150 on a Flames jersey, that's $150 they didn't spend here," he said. "And when you're watching hockey games, you're not mowing the lawn -- so when the weekend comes, you're doing that instead of playing golf."
Source: Calgary Sun (Alberta, Canada)
