As the golf season wraps up, courses around the province have started to prepare for winter, and General Manager of La Broquerie Golf Course, Pat Gauthier, says it was a great year and they’re hard at work preparing for the next few months.

Looking back

Over the last few months, many positives stand out to Gautier. “It was a great season,” he says with a smile. “Spring was fantastic, right into summer, another great summer here. We had a lot of tournaments, a lot of new faces showing up at the golf course this summer, which is nice to see. People are just amazed at how great the condition of our course is. So great to see so many new golfers, some ones whom came back from years past. It says we’re doing great. The changes to the course are working, which is nice to see. That ran into fall, and now, just like that’s another season in the books. It always goes by too quick.”

Preparing for winter

Gauthier says the course is closed, but you’ll still see people on the greens and in the fairways, preparing for what’s to come weather-wise. Right now, I have a few guys left who are working hard. They’re aerating greens, getting some tee boxes built, and so that can be all ready come springtime. Everything’s ready to roll, so that we can open up and everything’s nice and green for our painters and our golfers.”

Ideal winter conditions

When it comes to what’s best for the golf course over the winter, Gauthier says it’s simple, they want snow. “Ideally, you need snow coverage as early as possible. Without that, and what we’ve been getting the last few years, the sooner once we’re closed, as soon as we can get that snow cover to insulate the greens, the better it is.”

Connecting the community through tournaments

Throughout the season, the La Broquerie Golf Course hosted several charities, sports teams and organizations, something Gauthier loves to have at the course. “It’s awesome to see, like, we’re sort of starting to spread out here. We had the Mitchell minor hockey come and have their tournament this year, and they’re already looking forward to having it next year. So, not only are we supporting the local community here in La Broquerie, but we’re expanding out to other communities in the area. We’re a great place to have an event or just come out and play a nice round of golf, or just sit and relax in the restaurant.”

There are plans for more tournaments going forward, and anyone is welcome to reach out to Gauthier to ask questions. “I know that we’ll be looking at expanding our tournaments here, trying to get a few more organizations if they want to host some events to do some fundraising. There’s always room for a few more events. In the summer and otherwise, we’re just looking to keep spreading the word that La Broquerie Golf is a great place to come out.”

One of the best in Manitoba

Several times over the summer, La Broquerie Golf Course was named a “must golf” stop in the province, something Gauthier takes a lot of pride in. “It’s fantastic to see and to have that recognition,” he says proudly. “To see that we’re getting up there in those high-end courses, especially for the public, that we’re no longer the old La Verendrye, like we’re now La Broquerie Golf. It’s our fifth year under the new name and new ownership, and we’re seeing some great turnaround. People are really enjoying coming out and telling their friends and family that, yeah, this is the place you want to come for a round. It’s quiet, relaxing, a little bit challenging in its way, and you get a little bit of everything here at La Broquerie, and it’s all at a decent price as well.”

Top-level staff

At the core, Gauthier believes it’s the connection golfers have with the staff, who he says are the best around. “, I always focus on having some good staff here that are friendly, are personable, that we actually have to talk to them without having to worry about just taking their money and running with it. All my staff are so grateful to have an opportunity to work here, and they just love it here, which turns around and makes it great for the customer and the golfer, so that they actually feel like part of the family here at La Broquerie. A lot of it has to do with the staff that we have either on the course or in the pro shop there. We have a lot of great things to say, so thanks to them for making this course a fun place to come to every day.”

Next year

The ‘closed’ sign may have just officially turned over, but Gauthier says he’s already thinking about the start of next year, although he admits holidays are maybe more on the front of his mind. “I’m going to take this winter off to relax a little bit here after a crazy, busy summer,” he says with a laugh. “But the plan is always to try and be open for the end of April, early May, that’s always a goal of ours, but we’re reliant on the weather. It all depends on that. If the weather’s good, then we can open early. If not, then we have to just sit back and wait a bit more, but that’s usually the goal. We are always trying to get around that timeframe.”