It’s a very different scene across Canada when the holiday season arrives: while parts of the west coast are still digging through heavy snowfall. bringing air travel to a standstillMaritimers are hitting the links.
That’s right, on a balmy Thursday just three days before Christmas, a group of friends were enjoying a day of golf at the Indian Lake Golf Course in Hatchett Lake, NS outside Halifax.
“There’s a lot of opportunity for you to get out at this time of year,” golfer Mark Royale said between holes.
“The wind doesn’t blow too hard. As long as the wind chill factor is at a reasonable level, it’s okay to go outside as long as you wear the right layers.”
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Fellow golfer Steve O’Neil put it succinctly: “And we’re the Maritimers, so we’re a little bit crazy.”
The contrast is particularly striking considering the series of weather warnings that have been issued for Ontario and Quebec – a storm described by The Canadian environment is like a “paralyzing snowstorm.”
Doug MacLeod, course manager at Indian Lake Golf Course, says they’ve noticed a change in golfers over the years. While people generally don’t enjoy playing winter golf, that’s no longer the case.
“Ten to 15 years ago, what we used to see was a lot of -10, -15, -20 points when nobody was ready to play,” he said.
“But right now at around zero plus low, minus a little bit low, they don’t seem to mind. And with improved clothing, it allows them to wear more layers and still swing comfortably.”
The field has teeing floors to protect the field all year round. That means teeing off in the winter isn’t all that uncommon.
“Winter golf is an exciting thing. Where people used to touch the water, they can now throw it over the ice. It certainly makes for some interesting photos,” says MacLeod.
However, golfers – and Maritimers in general – shouldn’t laugh for long. A storm is also expected to hit the area mid-Friday through Saturday.
A white Christmas is not in the plans for Nova Scotia, instead, the province will see heavy rain and strong winds.
Once that passes, however, the resilient golfers plan to return to the links.
“As long as it hasn’t snowed yet and the weather is pretty mild right now, it’s definitely something I’ll probably continue to do, say, even into winter,” Eddie Kiiru told golf club in hand.
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