For dedicated duffers, any season is right reason

It was a sunny 40 degrees Monday, and noise from the crisp wind and a few cars was all that cut the silence at Painted Hills Golf Course.

“This is a golfer’s blessing here – to be able to be open in the wintertime,” Tony Blake said, warming up before his round.

Water is still flowing over East Thorpe Road along one edge of the nine-hole Spokane Valley course. Chester Creek runs brown and swollen as it cuts in front of the first tee, and a golf ball sits encased in the glaze of ice covering the pond at the ninth hole.

But few acts of God keep people off Painted Hills and some other Inland Northwest courses on days when frost and other conditions that would hurt the grounds are absent.

“This is probably as good as anything recently,” said Roger Gores before playing a round at Liberty Lake Golf Course.

“The course is in great shape,” said Gores, who was one of 46 golfers who played Liberty Lake on Monday.

Deer droppings and range balls peppered the dormant turf, and Gores noted how green the grass was at the course for this time of year.

In Post Falls, Prairie Falls Golf Club averages about 40 golfers a day during the winter. More than 70 played Monday, said the club’s Bill Holden.

In Coeur d’Alene, wet conditions have kept the city course closed, its pro said. Spokane’s municipal courses also are shut down for the winter.

“What a difference a year makes,” said John Durgan, operations director at The Fairways golf course near Cheney. Last year, the course opened Jan. 24, but recent rain has kept The Fairways soggy for the time being.

Once it dries out, though, the cold-weather golfers will come back swinging.

“Give us some dry weather, and we’ll be golfing,” Durgan said.

Blake, a retiree who heads to the course just about every day he can, said it’s important to dress in layers. He also uses chemical hand warmers.

Stretching and warming up to avoid injuries are even more important in the cold, he said, and it’s also a good idea to hit a small bucket of balls on the driving range before teeing off.

“We’ve played all winter lots of years,” said Painted Hills course Superintendent Ron Ridle, who counted about 20 golfers Monday.

If there is no snow on the ground, Ridle said he usually knows by about 10 a.m. whether frost will close the course.

“Always this time of year a little money is better than no money, but it doesn’t pay the bills,” he said.

The availability of golf carts varies with the conditions. The standard appeal to fix ball marks and replace divots were Ridle’s only requests to keep the course looking good in the winter months.