Snow golf played on Fairmont’s frozen lake | News, Sports, Jobs

ABOVE: Participants hit a tennis ball toward the hole on George Lake in Fairmont on Saturday afternoon. An 18-hole course was set up for a large group of friends and neighbors to play a round of snow golf.

FAIRMONT– This past weekend one of Fairmont’s frozen lakes was used not for ice skating or fishing, but for golfing as a group of friends and neighbors took part in an annual snow golf event on George Lake.

Ryan Meyer said that about six years ago he started building a course and extending an invite.

“The Channel Inn used to do a snow golf event back in the day,” he said. “We were probably saying, ‘remember when they used to do that? Maybe we should do that.’”

While when the Channel Inn did it, it was on Hall Lake, Ryan’s been putting it on George Lake, which he lives on.

To prepare the course, he uses his Ranger to plow the snow off, clearing a path for the fairway and green, but leaving in a few lumps of snow for hazards.

“I drill a hole to put the flags in. I drill the cups with an auger,” Ryan said.

While real golf clubs are used, tennis balls are used in place of golf balls simply because they’re easier to see and harder to lose in the snow. Instead of using a golf cart to get around, people drive side by sides or snowmobiles.

The course covers most of the north end of George Lake as it includes 18 holes.

“The first year we did nine but it’s been 18 ever since. This is our 5th year doing 18 holes,” Ryan said.

Each hole has a different “sponsor,” and some had special directions like spinning a wheel to see what item the ball had to be hit with, other than a club.

Ryan estimated that he put in about 10 hours total preparing the course, including some the weekend before, some the day before and some the day off.

“By tomorrow (Sunday) this will all be cleaned up. It’s about a 12 hour event and that’s it,” said Arin Meyer.

This year there were about 75 people who gathered to play. Arin said it was mostly friends and neighbors, notified via a Facebook event.

Ryan added that there were some kids from the Bethany golf team, from Sweden, Norway and Canada, who came down to play, too.

When asked if he plans to continue with the course, Ryan said, “as long as the ice permits us.”

While snow golf is a unique event, it’s not unheard of. Arin said that Lake Crystal’s Chamber puts on a snow golf tournament every February with prizes and Ryan added that some other cities near the metro, including White Bear Lake, put on a snow golf tournament, too.

For the one here in Fairmont, Ryan said it’s always been the weekend before the Super Bowl.

“We didn’t have any football to watch, so let’s do snow golf. Everyone has been cooped up inside for awhile so it’s nice to get out.”