The City of Kitchener’s Doon Valley Golf Course and Rockway Golf Course opened their gates on Friday.
“[Golfers] are extremely excited to get out,” City of Kitchener manager of sport development and golf Bob Cheyne told CTV News. “Even though it was a bit of a cool morning, we had folks out in shorts,”
Both municipal courses opened two days behind schedule due to the six centimetres of snow that fell on Monday. Despite the recent snowfall, Cheyne said bookings have poured in for tee times throughout the weekend.
“Between both courses, today is a really good day,” Cheyne said. “With a really fine day of weather on Sunday, it’s pretty full on both courses.”
Local golfer Vinny Luka booked tee times for Friday and Sunday. He said he hopes to play at least 50 rounds of golf this year, after sitting through months of snow and freezing temperatures.
“Absolute garbage winter overall. Didn’t give us an opportunity to scratch the itch early,” Luka said. “Typically, you can play late March or get something on the books when courses open, but we’ve had bad weather this entire time which hasn’t given us an opportunity at all."
With many COVID-19 restrictions lifted across the province, people are hoping to enjoy their first full golf season since 2019.
“It’s great to see an early start in April, because a couple of years ago May 16 was the earliest,” said local golfer Noah Gronlund. “Fresh air, nice walk. It’s honestly the best feeling.”
Cheyne said the game offered residents a new outlet to socialize and stay active during the first leg of the pandemic.
“Golf was a huge relief for some during COVID and the golf industry saw a lot of new golfers come out. So to have that for a full season, and hopefully those that came to the game over the last two years are sticking it out and sustaining, will make for a very exciting and busy season,” Cheyne said.
Tee times for Doon Valley and Rockway can be booked here.
