Fairway to heaven

PALMER - Ladies and gentlemen, dust off your clubs and unpack your cleats. The Palmer Municipal Golf Course has opened for business.

The unusually mild temperatures and lack of snow in the last month have allowed the golf course to administer one of its patented off-season openings.

Course manager Jeff Barnhart was enjoying some personal time off when he got the message that several of his regular golfing patrons were wondering when he was going to open up the course.

"I was playing golf at Myrtle Beach last Saturday, and I flew back on Monday," Barnhart said. "People have come to expect it from us. It's a unique group that comes out on those days that are hard-core. I guess the weather here Saturday or Sunday was like it was in July. Heck, at Myrtle Beach we saw 40 degrees one night."

Many of Alaska's golf courses are hesitant to open in the winter because of staffing problems and potential harm the wear and tear would do to the course. Although the greens are a little frosty and the fairways are a little crunchy in the morning, the afternoon sun has been warm enough to burn off the moisture.

As long as golfers can put up with the cool temperatures and the odd winter breezes, now is the time to go.

"We've done this sort of thing before and experienced very little damage," he said. "I don't mind doing crazy things, to a limit. When we get crazy weather like this, we open."

Barnhart, who has a contract to run the golf course for the Palmer municipality, said the powered carts are all put away for the winter, so the course is open to walking traffic only starting at 10 a.m., as long as the weather is cooperative.

For $20, golfers have unlimited use of the course, complete with real greens.

If the weather stays nice during the holiday next week, Barnhart warns that the course will be closed on Thanksgiving Day.

"I will stay open until the snow hits us again," he said. "I've been open in December before. I like the novelty of it."

Hopefully, the weather this winter will allow the course to open in January and February, which are the only two months the golf course has not been open, Barnhart said.

Paul Hartman drove the 40 miles to Palmer from Anchorage so that he could soak in some afternoon sunshine and stroll the fairway.

Anchorage golfer, Paul Hartman, was the envy of all his golfing buddies Wednesday, while taking advantage of unexpected opening.

"My boss said I could take the day off and golf," Hartman said. "I tried to get some of my friends to go, but none of them could play hooky from work."