(Duffers Golf/ Facebook)

By Ben Tompkins

Winter Golf

Duffers Golf has successful first month, looking to grow the game in the northeast

Dec 23, 2021 | 2:42 PM

The game of golf is a seasonal sport in Canada, or so it used to be until Duffers Golf came to town.

The three-bay golf simulator with 100 courses opened in Melfort on Nov. 16 and hasn’t looked back since.

Joey Baril, Owner of Duffers Golf Ltd. told northeastNOW he’s pretty happy with the results of his first month of business, however, he still hopes to bring more people in to grow the game over the winter months.

“It’s been okay, a little less than we originally projected but the people that do come seem to keep coming back,” he said. “The repeat customers are good, we just need to get a little more action.”

And Baril mentioned those who have come so far, are quite appreciative to have something like this in the area, the first of its kind.

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“The people that have come here really enjoyed it. We’ve had people from Melfort and surrounding area, so we’re pretty grateful for that,” he said. “After Christmas when people’s lives get back to normal a little bit, I think it will help us out. We’ve actually had a lot of Christmas parties which has helped us branch out too.”

When asked why Melfort, Baril said he felt something like this would be appreciated in the area and add to the course that’s open in the summer.

“The right circumstances and pieces fell into place and my wife and I are very passionate about golf,” he said. “We’re going to try and grow the game in the Melfort area but we don’t want to take anything away from the local courses.”

And for Baril, he said having a relationship with the Melfort Golf and Country Club was important, so they could work together and help each other out.

“I talked with Kevin (Manager at the MG&CC) before things moved along too far and just let him know what my intentions were and that we didn’t plan to be open during their season,” he said. “It’s to grow the game and not to be competition. If we can get a few more people golfing in the area, then the golf course will get a few more customers and vice-versa.”

Duffers is available for bookings only, you must have proof of double vaccination and a clean pair of shoes and you have to bring your own clubs. The cost is $35 an hour per simulator and it plans to stay open until around the end of April.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8