Golf season in Michigan officially here

The e-mails are streaming in one by one pronouncing the wonderful news.

Golf, in the upper Midwest, is open for business. I’ve gotten e-mails from some of the best public courses in metro Detroit – Boulder Pointe in Oxford, Moose Ridge near Brighton and Shepherd’s Hollow in Clarkston to name a few – that they’re open or will be by St. Patrick’s Day. The biggest surprise opening announcement came from Hawk’s Eye Golf Resort in Bellaire. That’s four hours north of Detroit, a northern Michigan outpost where snow usually reigns supreme until late April.

This is the earliest season opening I can remember since I began covering golf in Michigan 15 years ago. There could be a snow storm sometime in the next month. So far, though, the spring has been fantastic. Here’s the irony in all this: One local course, the Jackal at Mount Brighton, hosts a snowmobile race annually this weekend. With the forecast, it’s safe to say the race will be cancelled for the second straight year.

On a whim last week, I called my local golf course to see when it might open.

The phone rang and rang. Two thoughts crossed my mind: They’re so busy with the fabulous weather that nobody is answering the phone, or no luck, nobody’s working yet. On the second try, somebody answered and said the golf course might be open by the weekend.

Unfortunately, all weekend it rained like crazy. That might sound like a real bummer. However, it actually was a great way to rid the area courses of the record snow fall we received in February. Normally courses open anywhere between April 1 and April 15, depending on the snow and rain.

Instead of sulking for another month, I can tee it up for 18 and then grab some green beer Wednesday to celebrate March Madness. Sweet!