It seems somewhat premature to talk about the golf season when you take a look out the window in Whitehorse.

This time last year, the Mountain View Golf Course driving range was in full swing and the opening of the greens was just a couple weeks after that. If you would have asked course general manger Chris Graham last week, the opening of the driving range would be right on par with last season.

But like everyone in the Yukon's capital city, Graham and his staff have been bombarded by inches of new snow over the last several days, which of course puts Mountain View's plans on hold, if only temporarily.

'We're really hoping for the 23rd (of April), to open the driving range,' he said. 'But with this weather, it's hard to say.'

What's seen as a blessing for some, like the staff at Mount Sima, is certainly a problem for others, like the new superintendent at Mountain View. Mick Nychka is taking over for Dustin Zdan this season, and while he's been in Whitehorse for about a month, he has yet to see the actual golf course.

'I got a pair of snowshoes when I first got here and walked the course, because I'd never even seen it except in pictures,' said Nychka, who admitted he has big shoes to fill.

'I bought lots and lots of socks and I guess I'll just have to stuff them in,' he joked. 'I've heard that Dustin did a great job. I'm flattered I have the opportunity to kind of follow in his footsteps and hopefully take over from where he left off.'

Nychka has 20 years of experience on golf courses, most recently in Merritt, B.C. He turned down two other jobs to take this position, since the north is where he wants to be.

'I grew up in northern Manitoba and I loved it. I still call it home. I love everything about the north. The first year I graduated from turf college this position came up, but I didn't think I had the experience.

'But this year, when I saw the posting again, I thought, That's where I want to go.''

Graham said while he knew it wouldn't be easy to replace Zdan, who worked at the course for eight years, he knew he'd made the right decision on hiring Nychka when he returned to the golf course and found him on snow shoes.

The general manager is also confident he made the right decision when hiring a new teaching pro for this season he received more resumes this year than ever before for the position, including two from England.

Greg Wagstaff has been involved in the game of golf for more that 25 years, both as a pro on the CPGA (Canadian Professional Golfers Association) circuit and as an instructor.

'I've been around for a lot longer than I'd like to admit,' Wagstaff laughed. 'So I think I have a pretty good understanding of how the whole package goes together.

'I'm taking an established vehicle here and just tweaking it a little bit. I think I can help anybody at any level.'

Wagstaff, who was a teaching pro in Fort St. John for the past three years, and in Vancouver for eight years prior to that, said he has always wanted to at least visit the Yukon.

'I looked at this job and thought, This is way better than visiting the Yukon. I can actually experience it.''

The junior lesson program will once again be one of the main focuses for the golf club this season, which is something Wagstaff is used to and fully supports.

He will be starting classes at local schools again next week, something which was a huge success for Mountain View last year.

'It's a little bit different from what they're normally doing in school, they have fun with it,' said Wagstaff. '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.'

While about 90 kids enrolled in the lesson program the first year, in 2003, there were 172 last year nearly double.

'The focus on the whole junior development thing is tremendous here,' said Wagstaff. '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.'

The rest of the 'Tee to Green' lesson program will also be in full swing this season, and for competitive gold enthusiasts, there's the 'Golfing Gold Trail' tour, which will once again be sponsored by Cleveland Golf.

There are five tour events 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. Tour play starts on May 8, when the year-long match play gets underway.

The tour entry fee is $75 and each participant receives a Gold Trail gift package, including a cap and divet tool with the logo. And Mountain View will once again offer a similar tour for junior golfers, after a year-long absence.

In fact, Graham said, from what the public will see, there will be no big changes to the golf course this season.

Green fees will remain pretty much the same at $25 for nine holes and $34 for 18. A full-play season's pass is $665 plus a $35 course-improvement fee.

The course-improvement fee, said the general manager, is actually a really good way to accomplish things around the course because it's money that's directly allocated to improvements, so customers can actually see where the money goes.

For instance, the main thing people will see this year is a whole new design on the first green, which was paid for from last year's fees. Another thing is the new tee box on hole four.

With those improvements and the continued use of the popular programs, Graham is expecting more golfers this season after jumping by about 50 season's pass holders last year.

After about 24,000 rounds of golf recorded in 2003, there were about 31,000 in 2004.

Graham said he will be pleased no matter what as long as the course keeps moving forward, and the staff keeps coming up with newer, better ideas, such as the complete update of the website, which was done over the winter.

Now people can subscribe to information and tournament updates through e-mail.

'Every year, we've gotten a little bit better,' Graham stated.

So now the curtain will open on a new season at Mountain View, a season which will get started as soon as mother nature allows it. The priority, said Nychka, is to get the snow off the greens which have some damage that needs to be taken care of. In some of the shaded areas, the snow is still about two feet deep.

'In the three years I was in Merritt, I was known for the rain dance there, getting the rain when we needed it,' Nychka joked.

'So maybe I can do the same thing for getting rid of the snow.'