By all accounts, the opening of golf on May 15 went smoothly.  Most golfers were very happy to have something else to do.  I’ve heard all courses have basically been close to full capacity, but it will be nice to return to normal tee time intervals.

Winter was not kind to many courses from Saskatoon area to the north.  The thaw/freeze around November 22-24 along with rain on Nov 24, followed by cold temperatures has posed many challenges from the ice.  At Riverside we have fairly extensive damage on 4-5 greens with moderate damage on another 6 greens.  Our fairways also have ice damage in low areas.  We have seeded all of the greens 2–5 directions, depending on the severity of damage, and have begun overseeding fairways as well.

We have seen germination of the overseeding, which is a bit surprising due to the less than ideal weather with low nighttime temperatures until the past week.

The STA has been working with NAGA (National Alliance of Golf Associations) in communicating with the Business Response Team of the Provincial Government.  We have worked hard to have input and give guidance in development of the guidelines for opening golf.  We continue to have a dialogue and hope that as things progress we can get more aspects of golf functioning fully. Any input your course would like to provide would be gladly accepted.  Please contact Kim at admin@saskturf.com

At this point, it is looking like our next STA event will be the Fall Windup (hopefully).  We have tentatively booked a course for the Research Tournament in August, but unless restrictions lift, we are not sure that will happen.

I hope everyone is taking care of themselves and staying healthy.  It will be nice to return to some semblance of normal, whatever that is.  I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in the near future and wish everyone the best in the next few months.  I’m hoping for warm weather and our Poa kicks in soon!

 - Doug