ASPEN TIMES – ASPEN GOLF CLUB DELAYS OPENING

ASPEN — After a false start in which the course opened on April 13 and closed all of last week because of regular snowstorms, there’s a chance that the Aspen Golf Club will reopen Monday, weather permitting.

It snowed a little Saturday, but high temperatures Sunday appeared to be speeding up the snowmelt process. By late Sunday afternoon, the fairways and greens were a messy patchwork of grass and snow.

“We’ve had some melting going on, no doubt, but we’re still waiting,” Director of Golf Steve Aitken said Friday. “We’re pushing as hard as we can and working with Mother Nature to make that happen. There’s not that much snow out there, but we’ve had some cold nights that are kind of just holding it in.”

This year’s start is similar to 2011′s, when the opening was delayed by a wet April. Last year, the course was able to open in early April because of spring drought conditions…

…Aitken said he was happy with the interest all winter in the Full Swing golf simulators, which were set up in the dining area of the restaurant. The simulators have been dismantled and stored for the golf season.

The simulators are essentially high-tech cages. Infrared sensors track each shot — the spin, speed and trajectory of a ball in flight — and display the result on a large screen. Virtual golf plays very similarly to outdoor golf. The ball sits on [simulated grass], and a player grabs the appropriate club for the distance and conditions and steps up and hits it as if the game were being played outdoors.

Aitken said he plans to bring the simulators back to the grill next winter.

Recent Posts