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Mother Nature must cooperate if golfers want to hit the links in southwest North Dakota anytime soon.

None of the three 18-hole golf courses or five frequented 9-hole courses in the area are playable yet course officials said Saturday.

“We have areas where there’s still 3- and 4-foot (snow) drifts,” Dickinson Parks and Recreation director James Kramer said of Heart River Golf Course.

The only course in the area with a timetable to open its doors is Medora’s Bully Pulpit Golf Course, which has a tentative opening day of Friday, April 24.

Despite the area receiving far less snow than much of southwest North Dakota, Bully Pulpit had its share of troubles. Pro shop manager Dave Solga spent Saturday helping clean up debris left on the course after the Little Missouri River flooded it in early March.

Flooding affected nine of the 18 holes. Solga said the course is taking tee time reservations for April 24, and added it could open up the front nine even earlier if cleanup goes well.

“It’s all contingent on the fact that we’ve got a huge mess out here to clean up,” said Solga, who added that flooding left logs, branches and mud scattered throughout the course. “It’s basically a lot of hand work. … It’s just unbelievable the mess that river left here”

About 30 miles to the east in South Heart, Pheasant Country Golf Course general manager Jerry Perdaems said snow is melting slowly but surely.

Mid-March flooding put parts of at least 14 holes under water and, after the waters receded, two blizzards toward the end of March blanketed much of the course.

“There’s still quite a bit of snow out there, but some greens are partially exposed,” said Perdaems, who recently walked the entire course. “Some are completely under snow yet, anywhere from just a little bit to what looks like a couple feet on some of them.”

Kramer said officials at Heart River Golf Course will make another walk-through on Monday, but doesn’t anticipate the course opening anytime soon.

Kramer added that DPR is also working on fixing the wooden bridge that connects the 16th and 17th holes. The structure was damaged by ice flow on the Heart River during the March flooding.

Other than that, Kramer said the course didn’t incur much damage from the weather — but it’s still really wet.

“We want to open when the course is ready, but we don’t want to damage it and let people out too early because it will be soft,” Kramer said.

Nine lonely holes

Despite being unable to open as early as he’d hoped, Jerry Storjohann, superintendent of Medicine Hole Golf Course in Killdeer, is taking an upbeat look at the situation.

“We’re looking fantastic compared to last spring,” Storjohann said of the rolling-hilled 9-hole course. “A lot of courses were in rough shape coming out of the winter last year. The snow cover definitely was a plus.”

South of Interstate 94, 9-hole courses in Bowman, Mott, Hettinger and Scranton also sit idle as snow melts.

“I’ve got the clubhouse ready to go. All we’re doing is waiting on the weather,” said Don Groll, the manager of Sweetwater Golf Course in Bowman.

Groll, who is also the Bowman County High School golf coach, said he plans to put the boys and girls teams on the course as early as Tuesday since some fairways are partially open.

“I told the kids, ‘Tuesday we’re outside. Dress warm. We’re going to be out there,’ ” Groll said.

Losing money

In recent years, unseasonably warm winters allowed courses to open earlier than normal. That early month led to additional profits.

In 2008, Heart River opened on March 6. This year, the course may not open until early May.

“We’re more than a month behind and over $30,000 behind where we were a year ago,” Kramer said.

Perdaems said Pheasant Country opened on March 12 last year and knows the course’s income will take a hit unless weather allows them to keep the doors open later in the fall.

With every other course in the area shut down because of lingering snow problems, Solga said the flooding kept Bully Pulpit from pulling in potential extra profits.

“That’s the bummer part about it,” said Solga, who believed the course could have opened at the beginning of April if not for the flooding. “With everybody else being closed, we could be capitalizing on some of that revenue and, most importantly, providing a place for people to play.”

With temperatures in the 40s and 50s predicted over the next 10 days and rain showers forecasted for much of that time, it still may be a while before area golf courses officially open for the 2009 season.

Storjohann believes the weather this week will play a part in how long it will be before golfing can begin.

“I would think we’ll be open by the end of the month for sure, if not sooner,” Storjohann said. “It depends on what kind of moisture we’re going to see here. Mother Nature will truly decide that.”

Tags: bully pulpit golf course, heart river golf course, pheasant country golf course, sports, golf