The Kebo Valley Golf Club in Bar Harbor opens for the season on Thursday morning at 9 a.m. but it will be a little while longer before the Bangor Municipal Golf Course and the Aroostook Valley Country Club will open due to the wet, chilly spring.
The Aroostook Valley CC straddles the Canadian-American border between Fort Fairfield and Four Falls, New Brunswick.
Several other courses have already opened including the Hermon Meadow Golf Club.
Even though this past winter was colder than recent winters, the golf courses weathered well according to various golf pros and owners.
“We had a great year last year and the year before, and we’re looking for another great year this year,” said Hermon Meadow GC owner John Snyer.
Bangor Municipal GC pro Rob Jarvis is similarly excited heading into the season.
“Everything looks great. The turf came through the winter beautifully. It’s awesome,” said Bangor Municipal GC pro Rob Jarvis. “We will open within the next couple of weeks.”
Jarvis said he and his staff want to make sure the golfers have a quality experience and not have to slog over a wet course and they also don’t want the golfers potentially damaging the turf by playing on it while it’s still soggy.
“We don’t want to jeopardize summer conditions. That’s not what we do. And it has made a difference for us over the years,” said Jarvis.
He said the course opening is potentially a week ahead of schedule.
“People are excited and rarin’ to go. They want to get out there and, trust me, we want them to get out there. It’s easier for us to be open than not. But every time it rains, we get an inch and that doesn’t help things,” said Jarvis.
Jarvis also said that the grass is coming out of its winter dormancy.
“Two really good drying days would go a long, long way. Then we could get out and do some things on the golf course before it opens,” Jarvis added.
Snyer said his course in Hermon is in great shape for this time of year.
“Our greens die from surface drainage ice but we didn’t get any of that [this winter],” explained Snyer.
Golf carts aren’t allowed yet at Hermon Meadow.
The same is true for Kebo. Golfers will have to walk the course.
“The course is in good shape,” said Kebo Valley pro Peiter DeVos. “The greens are in very good shape.”
DeVos said the greens have been mowed a couple of times and rolled “in order to flatten them out so they are puttable to start the season.”
Steve Leitch, the Aroostook Valley manager and golf pro, said he had been optimistic that AVCC would open in April but with the cold and wet weather in recent weeks, it has been pushed back until the first week of May.
“We need some warmer weather,” said Leitch.
The AVCC will continue to have the same guidelines as a year ago, with American golfers having to go through the Canadian port of entry to play the course.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, American golfers could park in the parking lot in Fort Fairfield and walk across to Four Falls where they would sign in at the clubhouse and tee off.
When the border closed as the result of the pandemic in 2020, Americans couldn’t get on the course.
When the border reopened on May 5, 2022, Americans were allowed to return but had to go through the formal process of crossing the border to play, which meant more travel time.
There were some tough years at AVCC because of the big dip in American golfers but they have added several Canadian golfers to the membership list.
“We have really turned the corner,” said Leitch. “The future is bright.”
Jarvis said they had a “record-breaking” season at the Bangor Muni a year ago and they sold out all of their memberships for this season in an hour in October.
“We have 40 people on the waiting list,” said Jarvis. “And we also had very strong greens fee [numbers]. It was exceptional. We had a lot of community support.”
Matt Kirtland, who owns the Lucerne Golf Club in Dedham and just purchased Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono, said on Tuesday that he expects both courses to be open soon depending on the weather.
“The course drains very quickly, as does Lucerne, but we’re right within the zone,” Kirtland said about opening Penobscot Valley after finalizing that sale this week. “If the weather conditions change slightly, it could happen in a matter of days.”
