Golf season gearing up across district

As the temperature rises and the sun shows its face a little more often, many local residents are looking forward to the start of the golf season.
And with a number of outstanding courses in the area, they have reason to be excited.
District golfers have their choice of layouts, from rolling hills to tree-lined fairways—and everything in between.
The newest addition to local links is the Heron Landing Golf Course, located on Couchiching First Nation.
The course opened in 2004 and has enjoyed a successful run ever since. This year, Heron Landing is aiming to open for play during the next two weeks.
Staff members are hoping to open the driving range in the near future. And if the weather co-operates properly, the course itself should be open around the first of May.
Heron Landing is enjoyed by all skill levels since the layout varies greatly in difficulty from one hole to the next. The front nine is punctuated by a pair of par four holes; one terribly difficult, the other less so.
The seventh hole requires a tight tee shot up a narrow fairway, avoiding a creek and bunkers en route to the green. The eighth hole is a risk/reward layout that presents golfers with options in getting to the green.
Either way requires players to take Frog Creek into account.
The back nine starts off with the best test for any player: the long par four. Stretching 442 yards from the back tees and 344 yards from the front, the 10th doglegs to the right and brings water into play by way of Frog Creek.
There are bunkers that require navigation, as well as trees that line the left side. The narrow green is perched next to the creek and finds protection by a single front bunker.
Less than a month into the golf season, duffers will enjoy the first event of the year at Heron Landing when it hosts the Tim Perreault Memorial tournament on May 26.
Likewise, the staff at Kitchen Creek Golf Club just west of Fort Frances is gearing up for the season ahead.
“We’re targeting the week of May 1 to open,” said club manger Real Cure. “The course has wintered really well and we’re putting our water problems behind us.”
The course will benefit this year by an improved water distribution system. That change should go a long way in making Kitchen Creek more enjoyable while also improving playing conditions.
Last season, it wasn’t the distribution of water that posed a problem; it was the lack of water altogether.
“We didn’t have any water,” Cure noted. “There just wasn’t enough. But the new pump system and the pond will help.”
Originally opened in 1976, the course “features all the hallmarks of Ontario golf.” And having survived the winter in great condition, Kitchen Creek can look forward to a busy season ahead.
“We’ll be in better shape than we were last year,” Cure said.
He also is looking to make the most of his tournament schedule by hosting not only the annual club tournament, but also introducing some corporate ones to the schedule.
“We want to be the top golf destination in Fort Frances.”
As for the top destination in International Falls, many choose the Falls Country Club.
Located next to the Rainy River, the Falls course “is quickly developing the reputation as one of northern Minnesota’s top golf courses.”
The course features a number of streams and ponds, bringing water into play on 10 holes, including six of the last seven. “This stretch of finishing holes promises to be some of the best you have ever played.”
Not to be outdone, the front nine features back-to-back par-fives stretching more than 1,000 yards.
For those willing to make more of a drive, Atikokan boasts one of the more interesting courses in the region.
The Little Falls Golf Club offers hilly terrain and a winding creek over its nine-hole layout, which it claims is one of the “most beautiful and well-groomed courses in Northwestern Ontario.”
The Atikokan course should be open during the first week of May.
Regardless of where Northwestern Ontario golfers choose to play, they will have the chance to see some of the most unique and inspirational terrain in the country.
These great courses offer a range of play that should keep any golfer busy for the summer.