At Oak Marsh, While the Snow's Away, the Golfers Will Play

General Manager Steve Whillock has been getting more handshakes and expressions of thanks than usual lately as golfers leave the course for the day.

It’s one of the few courses in the area that’s still open, Whillock said, and golfers are still showing up to play daily. There were 80 players out on Wednesday, and the course is already fully booked with 120 golfers for New Year’s Eve, when the weather is supposed to be in the mid-40s.

It’s been eight to 10 years since the weather has allowed the course to stay open this late in the year, but it’s a welcome change in what has been a tough period for the golfing industry, he said.

“Golf’s taken a real slide,” he said. “Part of it’s the economy and part of it’s the weather.”

The golf course’s revenue is down 17 to 18 percent from last year, he said, and last year was down 10 percent from the year before that.

Being open late in the year like this won’t make up for the money lost due to bad weather in the springtime—when everyone’s geared up for golfing—but it helps some, and it’s nice to have cash coming in this time of year to pay bills, he said.

Both this year and last year were bad in terms of weather, he said, and golfers have been playing less due to the economy—but the other issue in the industry is that too many golf courses were built for the number of players out there.

“Today, there’re more courses than ever,” he said. “Some of them are closing, which is helping correct itself.”

The industry is also working to attract more people to the sport with initiatives like Get Golf Ready—a five-lesson course to get new players onto the golf course, he said.

There aren’t many beginners out this time of year, Whillock said, but the avid golfers are still showing up, and they’ll be able to continue playing at Oak Marsh as long as there’s no snow on the ground.

Golfer Jeremy Wahlstrom is a member at StoneRidge Golf Club in Stillwater, but with that course closed for the season, he was out Wednesday hitting balls on the driving range at Oak Marsh.

Golfing can be a little harder on the body when the ground’s frozen, he said, but he was happy to be able to get out and get some exercise.

Whillock is happy too, he said.

“Right now, the weatherman is my friend,” he said, although at this point in the calendar, any day could be the season's last one.

The course is taking reservations up to seven days in advance on its website. They do a shotgun start each day at noon to maximize the warmest hours of the day, he said. If it does snow, the decision on whether to cancel the day's rounds is typically made at 11 a.m. The course is charging winter rates of $18.50 for a round of golf.