Area golf courses struggle to open as ski season lingers

MOUNT HOREB, Wis. (WMTV) - A golf course in Mount Horeb is struggling to stay open this week due to the lingering winter weather. Meanwhile, Tyrol Basin ski hill is staying open one more weekend than expected.

Even though they make their own snow at Tyrol Basin in Mount Horeb, Owner and General Manager Nathan McGree said they’re fine with mother nature adding some more snow on top of their own.

McGree said the ski hill was set to close for the season last weekend. The last day the slopes will be open is Sunday.

“But we’re going to stay open this weekend because we have snow. We got some more snow coming and people are asking for it,” McGree said.

A ticket special will be happening this weekend at Tyrol Basin. McGree said passes are $40 for a day or $60 for two days.

“Generally speaking, it’s not super busy this time of year because everybody has kind of moved onto summer and spring activities and wants to be done with the snow but we’re going to stay open one more weekend and we’ll see what the weather does after that,” he said.

While the lingering weather is helping out the slopes this weekend, it’s delaying tee times on the golf courses.

Mike Woodward, General Manager at Norsk Golf Club in Mount Horeb, said they open when they can. Like any other golf course, they open when the snow is gone. Which they thought was on Tuesday so they opened the 9-hole course.

“We had about 48 players on Tuesday. We were open again yesterday (Wednesday) and now with the snow that we got last night and what’s coming this weekend, we’ll be closed for a few more days. Hopefully not long,” Woodward said.

He said this brings uncertainty for his business and golfers. The weather is a big influence on business.

“We see a lot of our members who are doing the memberships once the snow is gone because nobody wants to buy a membership when there’s snow on the ground,” he said.

Woodward hopes to open the course again on Monday, depending on how much snow the area gets this weekend.

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