Local golf courses ‘sitting pretty’ Warm weather welcome as most greens set to fully open by Saturday By: Joshua Frey-Sam Posted: 5:30 PM CDT Wednesday, Apr. 22, 2026 Last Modified: 11:07 AM CDT Monday, Apr. 27, 2026 Updates

Despite a few remaining snow mounds and some standing water in areas, golf courses in and around Winnipeg have started teeing it up for the season, with many more expected to follow in the coming days.

One of the first to open was Shooters Family Golf Centre, which has become notorious for its quick jump into the outdoor season.

Owner Guido Cerasani opened the back nine for the first time on April 15, but was forced to close it again owing to Mother Nature taking another swing at low temperatures and snowfall. All 18 holes have been available for walking players since Monday, and Cerasani said enthusiasts have taken full advantage.

“Big time. (Tuesday) and (Monday), it was like full-bore summertime,” said Cerasani, who opened his driving range on March 27, then again on April 2.

“It felt like it was never going to happen, and then we had the first nice day, and it’s like, it happened. It was packed. You had people waiting for a spot, the parking lot was full, and everyone was smiling. Back to normal.

“You kind of lose hope that — ‘What’s the summer going to be like,’ right? Because I know from being in the business for 33 years that if you have an early start and good weather, people get excited. If you have a crappy spring that drags out, some guys just decide (they’re) not golfing this year, and then that hurts the golf industry.”

Shooters was joined by Southside Golf Course in Grande Pointe, which opened its front nine on Monday, then made all 18 holes available on Tuesday at a reduced rate. As of Wednesday, players were able to drive carts during their round.

Like Shooters, Southside is typically one of the first to open and last to close each year. While management originally targeted an opening on April 24, they were happily surprised to find out they could give the green light on Monday.

“It’s been stupid. Slammed. This afternoon, we don’t even have one spot left open, so it’s good,” said general manager Garret Dykun. “Everything wintered well, and the water is actually basically all dried up already. So, we’re sitting pretty right now.”

Meanwhile, the city announced Wednesday morning that its courses — Kildonan Park, Windsor Park, Crescent Drive and Canoe Club — will open on Saturday.

“I have been on-site at all the golf courses, and they’ve come through the winter in good condition, so we’re excited about that,” said Ben Fey, manager of golf services. “For the most part, right now, things are dry. We will be allowing carts this weekend, so that sort of speaks to the conditions as well.”

Fey said Kildonan Park could’ve opened last week, but with the roller-coaster conditions, the city opted to hold off for another week. The target date was always April 24, he shared, so Saturday puts the courses right on schedule.

“This time of year, it’s more just we’re looking for sort of a stable run of temperatures where we don’t have to worry about things like morning frost delays and things like that,” said Fey, who normally begins to open courses around April 17.

“If the overnight lows are still below zero, there’s a good chance that there’ll be some morning frost, which would delay morning tee times. So we just want to try to avoid all that, and we think that we’re right at that point.”

Beyond the perimeter, Bridges Golf Course in Starbuck is targeting an opening in the middle of next week, while those at Selkirk anticipate the course will open in the next week, depending on the weather.

Steinbach’s Quarry Oaks, which has three nine-hole tracks, doesn’t have an open date set in stone, but manager Mike Pittman said that he’s hopeful for next week. He would prefer to open the entire course at once, rather than have a gradual opening.

“Mother Nature will dictate that in the next few days or so, I think,” said Pittman, adding that there is ice on some of their water holes and the ground still needs to thaw. “When you get temperatures like this, it makes everything a little soupy on top. So getting traffic and such would probably cause more damage than good at this point.”

That’s the stance that Bel Acres general manager Robin Henderson has taken, as well. Henderson said he’s shooting to open the course sometime next week, but doesn’t feel good enough to put a date in pen yet.

Bel Acres is typically open by this time, but the volatile weather has pushed the club’s start date by a week at least.

“We’re still waiting for some areas to dry up. The thing right now is it’s just taking so long for the frost to get out of the ground, and we need that to happen,” said Henderson.

“We like to open once we can actually get onto the course and cut it at least once. I mean, if you really wanted to go out and play right now, to walk around — you wouldn’t be able to ride a cart — you could, but there’s some wet areas, and you’d be doing more damage than good.”

Henderson said he’s not sweating taking a more cautious approach to his opening. He would rather have an extended fall than an early spring.

“It all depends. If we had four days in a row like (Monday), that would make a huge difference,” he said. “And of course, the big thing, too, is as long as it doesn’t go below freezing at nighttime — that’s pretty critical. You get four or five days in a row where it doesn’t freeze at nighttime, that makes a huge difference.”

winnipegfreepress.com/joshuafreysam

 

Hitting the links in the city

Winnipeg city-owned golf courses will open for the season on Saturday, April 25.

Tee times can now be booked at: Canoe Club, Crescent Drive, Kildonan Park and Windsor Park golf courses.

Residents can book spots online, or they can call the pro shop or 311.

There are special rates on green fees at Canoe Club, Kildonan Park and Windsor Park until May 9.