You're going to need to drag your golf clubs out of the basement early this year. Three months early?
ShadowBrooke Golf Course near Lester Prairie, Minnesota is going to open up for tee times next week. That's right, the last week of January, and it has to be unheard of in a state where it is typically the coldest period of a long, dark winter season. The average high this time of year is 23 in the Twin Cities.
Minnesota is experiencing a much warmer and less snowy winter than normal. That is mostly due to a significantly strong Pacific flow coming from El Nino. That's pushing winter far to the north. Even central and northern parts of central Canada are expecting much warmer temperatures.
WCCO Chief Meteorologist Paul Douglas says that any of our remaining snow should be gone by the weekend with temps hovering in the 30s this week. Just as importantly, nighttime lows are not dropping much below freezing either which speeds up any melting. Douglas says the National Weather Service describing this as a "winter heat wave" is accurate, and a first.
This isn't the first unusual golf being played this winter. Golfers were able to get out on the course as late as December this year. There's no doubt that is the shortest "winter offseason" for golfers Minnesota has seen.
Next week, temperatures in Minnesota are expected to leap into the 40s and perhaps even the upper 40s to near 50 if the sun is able to break through what has been a cloudy, foggy stretch. It's more likely to be 40 below than 40 above at this time of year.
That means grass and that means golf, at least at one course in the state.
If you're interested in getting out, and being able to tell the story of late-January golf in Minnesota, you can book a tee time here. ShadowBrooke says carts at this point are TBD depending on the conditions so you may need to walk.
FORE!