Sask. man scores hole-in-one as golf course stays open into November

The warm weather was a good luck charm for a Saskatchewan man who scored a hole-in-one over the weekend.

On Sunday, Jeff Fox wasn’t sure he wanted to go golfing.

“Basically, I play when my son calls me once in a while,” Fox shared, laughing when asked if he was a golfer. “And matter of fact, I was going to cancel on Sunday, but he convinced me to go.”

Read more:

• VIDEO: Regina golfer hits hole in one to win gold at Special Olympics
• Saskatoon’s city golf courses winding down for the season
• Meadow Lake man turns sobriety and golf into business success

Fox was glad he went a few hours later, standing beside the flag and cup with his ball inside on the eighth hole of the Perdue Oasis Golf Course.

“I was amazed,” Fox said, describing the high winds gusting as they were playing.

“I was looking at, I was thinking driver because I don’t hit long balls. And took an eight iron and just crushed it,” he said.

The next thing he knew, his son had told him his ball had hit the pole and dropped in the hole.

“I said, ‘There was no way,’” but Fox’s son started filming as they walked to the hole, where the ball, indeed, had landed.

“He was in the hole. I was amazed.”

Fox said his son was excited, throwing his hands up into the air. The group behind them on the course celebrated too, and Fox started texting friends with his news.

He ranked the occasion as his fifth-best experience of his life, right behind having his kids and granddaughters.

Warm weather extends season for some Sask. golf courses

Andrew Wilkinson, who leases and operates the Perdue Oasis Golf Course, said the par-three hole that Fox had his hole-in-one at has seen others.

He said their 14th hole has also recorded some hole-in-ones over the years.

“I think there were two this year or this summer that were hole-in-ones on eight, also,” Wilkinson shared. “But that Sunday, this other guy Jeff Fox got one, so jacked.”

Wilkinson said the season got off to a bit of a late start for his golf course with a cool spring, but saw plenty of rain for a green course, wind and lots of July heat this season.

The extended warm weather this fall prompted Wilkinson to take advantage of the opportunity to re-open the course for a few more rounds.

“Mother Nature is keeping it warm, so why not open up and see what happens? And of course, the phone rang off the wall there,” he shared.

“We booked up a week’s golf in basically a half a day.”

Wilkinson said there is such a small window for golf in the autumn months, there is good demand for a final round of the year.

The course is mostly “bare bones” and running on reduced hours to facilitate later starts due to the cold mornings and early darkness in the evening. Wilkinson said it was easy to keep it simple to reopen the business for a few more weeks.

“The course is ready for winter, but our carts are still able to drive,” he said, noting that players are only being charged $30 a person for the rest of the season.

“It just helps out for a little bit for some extra bills that we got to pay for the end of the fall here,” Wilkinson explained.

He said the course will close for the season officially before the snow comes.