While dozens of Yukon golfers braved the snowy, blustery conditions on Good Friday, hitting the links at Meadow Lakes Golf and Country Club, the clubs had to be put back in the garage for a little longer than anticipated.

Meadow Lakes was hoping to open, at least partially, for the season last Saturday, while Mountain View Golf Course was hoping to have its driving range up and running last Friday. But thanks to Mother Nature, both courses have put things on hold.

Meadow Lakes is now aiming to open this weekend, although co-owner Jeff Luehmann admits April 28 may be more realistic.

'You have to be an optimist,' he laughed. 'But with the forecast, it's looking more like next weekend. All of the snow should be gone by the end of this weekend.'

Mountain View General Manager Chris Graham said he can't confirm a new date yet.

'We're waiting for the snow to melt on the driving range,' said Graham. 'It's too bad, but there's no use getting frustrated. We have no control over it.

'We were thinking we might have a record (early) opening.'

The greens at Mountain View are typically opened a week after the driving range.

Graham was hoping the early opening this year would make up for last year's late opening. Last year, golf enthusiasts were faced with a similar problem, as inches of new snow fell in the last few weeks heading into golf season.

Course Superintendent, Mick Nychka, who is in his second season at Mountain View, has hired a good part of his crew to finish the details before opening the greens, and Graham and teaching pro Greg Wagstaff were setting up shop in anticipation. But now, its basically hurry up and wait.

As long as the weather throughout the summer is more cooperative than last year, when the golf course dealt with a lot of rain, Graham will be pleased.

'We're very hopeful on the condition of the course,' he said. 'The whole course, in general, is looking very strong. Mick is still going to have to work his usual magic, but we're really looking forward to the season.'

Mountain View already has a lot of functions booked for the next few months, said Graham, including the usual public golf tournaments such as the opening scramble event and the Peter Gzowski Invitational.

For competitive golfers, the 'Golfing Gold Trail' tour, sponsored by Cleveland Golf, will run once again this year. There are five tour events held throughout the summer and after each event, participants will be awarded gold trail dollars for their finish.

The club will keep a money list throughout the year, just like the PGA tour. Whoever has the most money wins the grand prize. The tour entry fee is $75 and each participant receives a Gold Trail gift package, including a cap and divet tool with the logo.

For tournaments like the scramble, where there are close to 200 people taking part, a new banquet and awards tent will be erected at Mountain View. It will be close to the same size as the previous tent, but in better condition, and most likely it will be heated, said Graham.

'We're quite excited about the new tent. It's very nice.'

The lesson programs at Mountain View will be expanded somewhat this year, with a new group sessions. A ladies only class will be held Thursday nights while an 'Ageless Wonders' class will take place Tuesday afternoons.

They've also added a weekend camp for adults, which will include lessons, rounds of golf and time on the driving range Friday evening, all day Saturday and Sunday mornings, as one package.

One of the new programs Graham and Wagstaff are most excited about is the new intensive, week-long school for junior golfers. Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the young athletes will receive instruction and play rounds of golf.

'That (program) came directly from conversations with parents and kids,' said Graham. 'A lot of kids are really into golf, but the scheduling was the main factor.

'Now, if the parents are working, they can drop their kids off at 8:45 or so in the morning and then pick them up after work.'

Mountain View will also still have the regular lesson programs for kids. And Wagstaff will be starting classes at local schools again next week, something which has been a huge success in the past couple of years.

'It's a little bit different from what they're normally doing in school, they have fun with it,' said Wagstaff, in an earlier interview. 'Then they take the brochure home and tell their parents they want to take golf lessons. And the parents say, Well, if you're going to take lessons, I might as well too.'

'So you get that whole snowball effect.'

Graham said many more junior golfers have been showing up at the golf course in the last two years, so Mountain View puts a lot of focus on their development.

'The focus on the whole junior development thing is tremendous here,' Wagstaff agreed. 'Everybody's talking about junior golf and it sounds like that trend (of numbers increasing) will probably continue.

'And when clubs have strong junior programs, results show up at all levels.'

All green fees at Mountain View will remain the same this season, at $25 for nine holes and $34 for 18. A full-play season's pass is $665.

At Meadow Lakes, fees will also stay on par with last season. For the first few weeks the golf course is open, Luehmann said there will be special non-primetime rates, with a round of golf (nine holes) going for $25.25. Once the course is in ideal shape, primetime rates will rise to $29.90. There will also be specials on punch cards once again this year.

Luehmann is spending a lot of time lately at Whitehorse City Council, regarding his plans to build a residential subdivision next to the golf course (see story, pg.2). But there are improvements in the works for the upcoming season, likely on the tee boxes, and the co-owner is looking forward to a busy summer.

'One really good thing in our favour, is we're anticipating cruise ship traffic out of Skagway to double. Those are the numbers we're getting right now. When I actually see the buses coming up full, I'll be a real happy camper.

'That's the kind of market for me to grow. Cruise ship traffic has huge potential.'