LAC LA BICHE - Despite ongoing construction and periods of inclement weather in May, 2024 was a very busy season on the greens, says Lance Palamaruk, the head pro at the Lac La Biche Golf and Country Club.
Golfers and staff at the lakeside course have worked around a massive renovation project at course through the season, including work on new tee boxes, fairways and greens. The upgrades, part of a $5 million renovation project, will continue in 2025 – resulting, perhaps, in the front nine holes of the course being closed. While Palamaruk said next year will definitely bring some changes, the last year of play was one of the best in the course’s history.
Thanksgiving Monday was the last day in 2024 to enjoy a round of outdoor golf in Lac La Biche, after which the course closed until next spring.
“We saw the second most rounds played in Lac La Biche so the construction did not hurt us as bad as we thought in regards to people showing up to play,” Palamaruk told Lakeland This Week. “The course was in incredible shape, and we thank the construction crew for working around our golfers and events we did host this season.”
A makeover of the 66-year-old golf course got underway in the spring, with work going through the summer months into autumn. During this period, construction crews fixed the main drainage system, including re-digging the pond on hole 1 and the creek across hole 7, and built tee boxes on holes 10, 11, and 18.
The project, which was approved by Lac La Biche County council and the golf club in 2022, is being funded by the municipality. While $4.5 million was initially set aside in 2022 as part of the seven-year master plan for the refurbishment and repair of facilities at the Lac La Biche Golf and Country Club, $5 million is being funded for golf course development in the County’s 2025 budget.
While every hole on the course remained open throughout the construction period, hole 2 closed in early August and was shut down for the remainder of the year as the tee boxes, drainage, fairway, ponds, cart path and green were all rebuilt.
Palamaruk said the closures and construction are a short-term pain for what he thinks will be long-term gain for golfers.
“The new tee boxes on the three holes are great and the new creeks and subsurface drainage are amazing,” Palamaruk stated. “The re-dug ponds and creek across seven are very appealing and can't wait to get hole 2 complete and add the fountains to our new ponds.”
As for what next season holds, Palamaruk said, that has yet to be determined. He stated that officials with the municipally- operated golf course have asked to have the front nine stay open, but added that they will not know until December exactly what the timelines will be.
Palamaruk said while the work has caused some golfers a little concern during this past season, as a whole, most comments have been positive, and people are enjoying the improvements taking place on the course.
“So overall, people are looking forward to the new changes even though it does come with some headache,” he said.