The calendar may say late October, but for some Ottawa golfers, the season is far from over. With sunny skies and pleasant fall temperatures, golfers are squeezing in a few more rounds before winter arrives. At Pine View Golf Course in Ottawa’s east end, Rob Sevigny thought he had already put his clubs away for the year. “I thought my season was over a few weeks ago, but my buddy convinced me to get out for one more round,” Sevigny said Saturday. Despite Ottawa’s rainy summer, Sevigny still managed to hit the links. “I don’t think I missed that much. I still managed to get out for probably 75 rounds,” he said And he’s not the only one taking advantage of the late-season conditions. Mike Copeland, owner and general manager of Pine View Golf Course, says the pleasant October weather has helped keep the fairways busy. “It’s been fantastic weather here to kind of cap off the season. We’re on a great run through October and we’re hoping it continues for a few more weeks,” Copeland said. “The course is busy, parking lot is full, and you know, other than frost in the morning, its operations going great.” Copeland says the course experienced a slow start to the season, particularly in the spring, but business picked up heading into the summer. Rounds played are now up compared with previous years, although he notes that more rounds don’t necessarily translate into higher revenues because many are played by members. “Our bottom line is quite healthy, and we’ve got a long of exciting projects on the go,” he said. While the fall weather has been favourable, colder mornings are presenting some challenges. Pine View experienced a roughly two-hour frost delay Saturday morning, forcing staff to adjust tee times to get golfers on the course. Copeland says the course is sending golfers off both the first and tenth tees to help make up for lost time. Warmer temperatures set to linger Still, there could be plenty more opportunities to hit the links. Environment Canada is forecasting a sunny high of 17 C in Ottawa on Sunday, seven degrees above the seasonal average of 10 C. Temperatures are expected to dip to 7 C on Tuesday before climbing back into the double digits later in the week. Copeland says Pine View typically remains open until mid-to-late November, depending on weather conditions. “We kind of go as long as we can, usually until there’s a solid frost on the ground that doesn’t come out or obviously any sort of snow,” he said. “Knock on wood, we’ve gone as late as December 21 in the past.” And there could be more mild weather ahead. Environment Canada’s seasonal outlook favours above normal temperatures in Ottawa from November through January, although that doesn’t necessarily mean an absence of snow or frost. As for Sevigny, he’s not ruling out adding a few more rounds to his already impressible total. “I’m kind of trying to translate into more of fall winter activities,” he said. “But, you know, if there’s a nice weekend, then I could definitely come up for another round.”
