Golf season tees off a little late on P.E.I.
'The course conditions, everybody's saying that they wintered very well'
Belfast Highland Greens golf course in Belfast, P.E.I., opened for the season Tuesday marking a slightly later start for Island golfers than last year, when the course opened April 12.
"We've been waiting for the last two weeks — no snow, but cold temperatures," said Marshall McMahon, manager and head pro at Belfast. "We thought perhaps we'd get open maybe 10 days ago."
Revenues from P.E.I.'s 28 golf courses are about $35 million a year, and the economic impact of golf is about $60 million, officials say, with golfers staying longer and spending more than other tourists.
Belfast was fully booked Tuesday, with about 200 rounds played on the scenic coastal nine-hole course. Many other courses are opening in the coming days and weeks.
'Great winter'
"We've had a great winter — the course conditions, everybody's saying that they wintered very well," said Mark MacLean, the executive director of Golf P.E.I.
"Our tourists will start to arrive in May for golf trips," MacLean said. "We're getting ready and we're excited for another good season."
Golf bookings are up about 15 per cent for this coming year, MacLean said,
In 2017, the number of non-member rounds played on P.E.I. stayed about the same as 2016 according to provincial tourism indicators, while golf was up almost 11 per cent in 2016 and two per cent in 2015, after a few years of steady declines.
"I think Prince Edward Island is on a bit of a roll," MacLean said. "It's a popular place — it's safe, it's relaxing."
McMahon agrees.
"I think golf is on an upswing again," he said, after waning following the economic crash in 2008-09. More juniors played last year and Belfast sold more memberships last year. McMahon credits Tiger Woods' return to golf for helping the game rebound, in part.
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With files from Julien Lecacheur