Green fever on Black Friday: Edmonton-area golf course reaps warm November business

Worth the drive for a few drives.

The opportunity to pull clubs out of their golf bags in late November sold one couple on a journey to a course north of St. Albert, Alta. – all the way from Saskatchewan.

"You never get a chance to golf this time of year," said Dustin Buffin, who drove with Janice Aepsin on Friday to Terrae Pines Golf and Country Club and RV Park from Pierceland, Sask. – located about 300 kilometres northeast of Edmonton – to join other hardy golfers bundling up to get in a cool round. "We wanted to experience it for ourselves and because this is probably once in our lifetime that's going to happen this late."

Truth is, though, Buffin and Apesin played the course seven kilometres north of St. Albert just last weekend. They still had the itch to golf, though, and with no course open in Saskatchewan to their knowledge, they checked in with Terrae Pines.

"We thought we'd call again to see if they're still open, and sure enough, and we're like 'let's go,'" Apesin told CTV News Edmonton.

Friday's date of Nov. 24 is the latest the golf course built in the late 1980s has been open in the five years manager Mark Cassidy has worked there. He said Terrae Pines was open until Nov. 13 two years ago.

And as long as the forecast calls for weather like this – CTV News Edmonton meteorologist Josh Classen says we can expect high temperatures from 2-6 C through Tuesday  – Cassidy said the course will open for business.

"As long as the forecasts are consistent, then we have no issue with reopening," he said, adding he usually likes to get golfers on the course no later than 12:30 p.m. with the sun setting around 4:30 p.m. these days.

"It's great for business. We get an extra month out of the year, maybe longer depending on the weather, of course, but the golfers, too, are ecstatic to be able to get extra rounds in their season."

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson