The Golf In golf simulator is up and running at the Cooke Municipal Golf Course. (Submitted photo/Darcy Myers)

By Jeff D’Andrea

Hitting the links during the frozen winter

Golf Simulator up and running at Cooke Municipal

Jan 13, 2021 | 1:27 PM

Without having to risk their health or have to quarantine for two weeks, Prince Albert golfers can now be magically whisked away to California and play at the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links, or to Orlando and play on Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill golf course.

Cooke Municipal Golf Course now has a golf simulator, which opened to the public at the start of the week. The Golf In simulator is available to rent for groups of four or less at $40 an hour. There are 99 courses to choose from, including Pebble Beach, Bay Hill, Spyglass Hill, and others across the United States, Europe, and the world.

“The response has been overwhelming, with people looking for stuff to do and not being able to travel and whatnot with this pandemic,” Darcy Myers, head professional at Cooke Municipal Golf Course. “So it’s a nice option for people to just come in and play some golf.”

Myers and the Cooke Municipal staff have played a few test matches on it, and really like how accurate the simulator is.

“We’ve done some trial runs on it. I’ve played a few courses that I played in person, and now on the simulator. It’s really impressive, the graphics and the data it gives you on all of your shots. We’re excited,” Myers said. “It’s something that we’ve been looking at for a year or two, and now is a great time to introduce this and so far, the response has been fantastic.”

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Safety is a big concern for everything these days, and Myers said safety concerns were taken into consideration when they decided to bring in the simulator. Bookings are made in advance to ensure there is no crowding at the pro shop, there is plenty of room in the Cedar Room for groups of four or less to spatially distance, golfers will bring their own clubs, sanitizers are available before playing a round, and the rooms are cleaned between each group.

“It’s very safe… We’re trying to keep people safe, trying to keep this going and so far, so good,” Myers said.

As to how long the simulator will be in service, that is still remained to be seen. The initial thought is to have it operational until the regular golf season starts in the spring, but there is a possibility to keep it open even then to use it as a teaching tool during poor weather.

“We’re feeling that out right now,” Myers said. “Potentially, we may be able to leave it up year-round but for right now, we’ve just got it for when the golf season starts. We’re looking at keeping it up for the summer so we can teach if it’s raining outside and to have that [indoor] option.”

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW