The photo was taken of Lac La Biche Golf Club pro Lance Palmaruk standing under a little umbrella during a big downpour at the start of a golf tournament at the end of June. The image was going to be part of a story about the wet and dreary June weather. An interview was arranged with Palamaruk for a few days later ... during what became be a week of record-breaking hot weather across the region. On the actual day of the interview, an early morning thunder storm had just swept across the community, bringing high winds, rain and lightning.
"We've had some extremes," said Palamaurk with a laugh, when asked last Thursday afternoon about the recent weather changes over the course.
He said so far 2024 has been a whole season of swings— and not just from the golf clubs.
Along with the rains, the heat, and the storms this year, the local course is also in the midst of a massive construction project to update the drainage and replace tee boxes on four holes of the 18-hole lakeside course.
"It's been busy,lots going on" said Palmaruk when asked about the season so far.
Despite all the upheavals — including actual physical ones in the case of the earth-moving equipment digging up the course – Palmaruk says things now are pretty good ... really good in fact.
"Weather-wise and with everything else, we actually had a really great start in April — but then May was absolutely terrible, one of the worst Mays on record," he told Lakeland This Week, before describing the up-swing that came from May into June. "Even with all the rain in June, we actually had a good month with a lot of events."
In fact, June closed out with the course's busiest day ever, recording 268 rounds of play on Saturday, June 29.
And then it got really hot.
"We get a little quiet when it's this hot," said Palmaruk as the early Thursday afternoon temperature hit 30C for the fourth scorching day in a row. "It's been an extreme year."
The course is still busy in the early morning and early evenings as golfers avoid the direct heat of the day, he said — explaining that even with the wild weather swings, there has been more golf played on the course this year than just about any other year before.
"Last year was the busiest we've ever had - and this year is on pace to be the second-busiest," he said, explaining that while weather might play a factor on how busy the course can be on a daily basis, a larger influence is responsible for an overall increase in golfers during the whole season. "We're still seeing the effects of the 'COVID Golf Boom. There was nothing else to do, so they came out to play golf during COVID, and more and more people have stayed with it."
With more than two full months of regular season play on the course remaining, Palmaruk says golfers have taken the extremes of the season in stride.
"You can still play golf in the rain," the pro said, "you just have to hold onto your club a little tighter. If it's storming, you can wait it out and if it's too hot, you can come back later in the day."
When it comes to the construction, the noise of the equipment and some obstructions and bare patches, Palmaruk said golfers have taken that in stride as well.
"Nobody has really said anything. I think people for the most part know how good it is going to look when it's done, and they are excited about what the end product is going to be."
While the weather can change from instant to the next, Palmaruk says the construction projects should all be wrapped up by the end of the current season, bringing one less challenge for golfers next year.
Still part of the construction plan for this year, however, is the complete overhaul of the second hole. The popular Par 3 target was scheduled to have been closed off entirely for play by July 2, but construction schedule changes have pushed the closure back until mid-July, said Palmaruk. The drainage and new tee box builds on holes 10, 11 and 17 are expected to be wrapped up by next week. Finishing off the project for this season, crews will then work on the pond on the first hole and the creek running through the seventh fairway.
The construction projects are part of the first phases of a seven-year $4.5 million upgrade program funded by Lac La Biche County. This year's work, plus last season's construction of new washroom facilities near the fourth fairway, were budgeted at about $1.2 million.
