Mild winter provides boost for Naperville golf courses

If your golfing buddy wants to put a friendly wager on your round this weekend, be wary. He may already be nice and loose from playing in Naperville all winter.

During a typical early March, the staff at Naperville Park District’s Naperbrook and Springbrook golf courses, would just now be preparing for the traditional March 17 opening.

This winter, however, both courses were frequently open from December through February and never were closed for more than five consecutive days.

“I don’t ever remember a winter like this,” said Golf Director Ed Provow. “The day after Christmas, we had 55 players at Naperbrook and celebrated our first hole-in-one at Springbrook on Jan. 6.”

Naperville resident Shane Volmer, fresh off a Friday morning round with his dad, Michael, said he never even put his clubs away.

“This is about the time they normally get brought down from the garage attic and cleaned up,” he said. “I’ll still clean them, but if this weather keeps up through the spring, they won’t get much rest.”

The increased rounds also have provided some much needed revenue for the district’s golf program.

“In our annual budget we assume there will be no revenue from course play during the winter months,” Provow said in a written statement. “We have seen between 20 and 40 golfers out on an average day this winter and 60 to 80 golfers on days when the temps have been near 50 degrees and higher, which started the year on a positive note.”

The mild winter weather also benefitted golf course maintenance, providing relief from ice damage and allowing special projects such as drainage improvements to be completed ahead of schedule.

There may be more good news for Naperville golfers: prices at Springbrook and Naperbrook are expected to drop this year.

Park district Executive Director Ray McGury recently said recently one of his goals will be to draw more people to the courses in hopes of returning them to profitability.

“We’ve got to figure out how to get people back into the game, whether it be looking at the cost, or getting more youngsters into lessons,” McGury said.