Northern Lights Golf Complex Offers A Complete Golf Experience
by Scott A. Sumner
www.golfingnews.ca
If you are golfer in Thunder Bay, you most likely hit your first golf balls of the season at the Northern Lights Golf Complex range in late April. The phone starts ringing as soon as the snow melts. Sometimes we have snow on the range but people don't in town so they just assume we are ready to go. We open pretty much as soon as the snow goes and have opened when there still is snow in the area. The people want to get outside as early as they can," smiles Nadine Breukelman, part owner of Northern Lights Golf Complex. Northern Lights is a unique golf facility in Thunder Bay and area, as it has a large driving range and practice area, a par 3 executive course as well as a regulation nine holes.
The 160 acre property began as a dairy farm for the Breukelmans in 1979 for 15 years. In 1994 the family decided to stop dairy farming and built a driving range converting the pasture area. That summer the par 3 course construction began and the following year opened. The regulation 9 was finalized in 2001. For two years prior to the regulation course completion it ran with just the first five holes. The clubhouse was built in July of 1995.
"The par three course is a good training facility for kids. We also have a strong group of seniors and familys who come out as well as seasoned golfers who want to work on their short game. There are office tournaments on the par 3 course as they dont feel intimidated." states Nadine Breukelman.
"We got into the golf business when we left the dairy business as we didn't really want to move from the area. We had the property and golf was a good fit. We checked into it and decided to do it," states Gerald Breukelman. "I played once a year and wasn't a golfer. I had no intention of golfing when I quit farming, it just worked out. I wanted to remain self employed as I had never worked for anyone else."
"On the Northern Lights par three course we had someone come in and design it, tell us what soils to use etc. We learned a lot and on the regulation course I felt we could do most of it ourselves with some landscaping help," notes Gerald Breukelman. "We bought a dozer, dump truck and back hoe and when we were finished sold them."
" Currently we are building a few other greens as some of our original greens were small, so we are working on greens and tee boxes. We want to put more water systems in and last year we planted 250 trees on the property to make the facility more attractive. A plan for the future may be to light up the par three course and driving range for night. It may not happen but we are thinking about it."
The majority of the golfers at Northern Lights are green fee players. although there are a few members. "We have regulars who we see each week. Right now it is $15 to golf up until 4 pm for golf as long as you want. The normal rate is $20.00 for the regulation course and $12 for the par three course. Our evenings and weekends are good and our goal is to get more people out during the day," states Gerald Breukelman. "Our play has increased steadily each year though the number of new courses has made it more competitive to grow. Some of the country clubs have opened up to the public more freely. This year we thought we would have a early start but the May weather wasn't very good at all.
Northern Lights has worked at developing a fun atmosphere for golfers. They have two ladies and a mens club. "Tuesday is our non competitive ladies club and we have 100 members. The ladies can golf either course and afterwards we have a barbeque and at the end of the year a wind up that everyone looks forward to. The women are all ages and from all acts of life," notes Nadine Breukelman. "It costs $10 to join and that includes our wind up of the year meal. The women can phone and join until the end of July. Wednesday we have a more competitive league with a membership fee of $45.00 and there you can maintain your handicap. We will always welcome the ladies and get them into a group. When the ladies come they just pay their greens fees. Our mens club is on Thursday and costs $65 to join and they maintain handicaps."
If you want to hit some booming drives on the range, hone your short game on the par three course or play a competitive game on the regulation 9 be sure to get out to the Northern Lights Golf Complex.
