Powell Golf Club will shut down for winter on Friday

If you’ve yet to put your golf clubs away for the winter, get your last swings in now as Friday marks the end of the season at the Powell Golf Club.

The local club will be shutting its doors and covering its putting greens at 5 p.m. Friday, and won’t be open again until March of next year.

With temperatures hovering in the mid-to-low 60s recently, with some days spiking into the 70s, PGC General Manager Gary Shampeny said golfers have already voiced their disapproval of the club’s closing.

PGA professional Doug Conner, who runs the club’s pro shop, said the club often shuts down for several days in October due to freezing temperatures, and added that the club hasn’t closed once this month. But Conner also added that play at the club has dwindled, as is the norm this time of the year as temperatures drop.

Shampeny went on to say that  Oct. 31 has been a consistent date of closure for the club, and stressed that the “unusually warm weather” will likely see a drastic change for the worse in the coming weeks.

“It doesn’t matter what the weather is like, our members never want the club to close,” Shampeny said. “But the forecast is only good for three or four days. Next week it could be in the 30s and freezing. The greens out on the course need time to rest and recover in time for spring next year.”

Shampeny said local and non-local golfers often play at the PGC due to the high quality of the course greens. The GM added that protecting the greens with turf covers that allow the grass to breathe is essential in both the club’s attractiveness and better play overall for golfers every season.

“Sometimes you have to make some decisions that aren’t going to be popular with everybody,” Shampeny said. “But I think at the end of the day, our golfers are going to understand that our procedures are what’s best for the course and for them as well.”

On Tuesday, several PGC members were on board with Shampeny’s sentiments, going as far as praising the GM for his preservation efforts.

“Since Gary has gotten here, the course, especially the greens, has improved each year,” said Powell resident Bob Gallagher, who has been golfing at the PGC for 50 years. “Gary is really taking care of our course.”

Member Bob Mason, who came to Powell from Golden, Colo., in 2001, said Shampeny’s decision to protect the greens was ingenious.

“Us covering the greens is the best idea anybody ever had I think,” Mason said. “Indiscriminate use of the greens can really cause irreparable damage. I think Gary recognized that, and the course has definitely looked its best since he arrived.”

Shampeny, who said he’s been in the golf business for close to 30 years, actually came to the PGC while working for a company called Turf Care to help restore the club’s ailing greens. So after seven years as the PGC general manager, it makes sense that his concern for the caliber of his greens is unwavering.

Shampeny insisted that the decision was quality-based and not one made from a financial standpoint.

“If our closing date was decided with finances in mind, we’d close by late September or early October,” Shampeny said. “But as with any sport, skiing, tennis or golfing, etcetera, when the spring hits athletes are ready to go as soon as possible.

“So with that in mind, we want to make the opening to our season as smooth and enjoyable for the golfers at the Powell Golf Club.”