Weather allowing golfers to play through

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Lloyd McClendon watches his drive on the par-5 ninth hole at Turkey Creek golf course in Merrillville Tuesday Jan. 10, 2012. | Andy Lavalley~Sun-Times Media

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Updated: February 12, 2012 8:17AM

MERRILLVILLE — It’s 9:22 a.m. when I pull into Turkey Creek Golf Course. The sign outside reads 42 degrees and it’s Jan. 10. The weatherman says it’s supposed to reach 50. Fifty frigging degrees in the dead of winter in Northwest Indiana. Incredible considering the average temperature is 22 degrees this month.

Even better: There isn’t a cloud in the sky and the wind is barely moving some of the barren branches in the trees that surround the gravel lot. Winter golf, masked with warm temperatures, can be seductive until the wind factor is accounted for. If the wind is blowing hard, it still feels really cold and the course conditions get impossible with rock hard greens and slick fairways.

Already the parking lot has about 20 cars scattered around and the first tee is backed up. Some unbelievably quirky, mild weather has turned winter into a boom time for golfers who don’t mind wearing a few layers when they play. The summer golf weather was rotten — the worst in years, according to some owners — with random storms that blew through without warning and an avalanche of wet weather in May and June. The winter weather is unprecedented, just as good as the weather was bad from April to October.

“How many times do you have to wait on the first tee in January?” John Wood, a regular asked as guys milled around, waiting to launch their balls down the narrow fairway on No. 1, a long par 5.

The rhythm of play gets more like a sunny summer day as the round goes on. By late morning, players were asking to go off the back nine because the course was so crowded. One 20ish looking golfer showed up in a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt.

Golf after Christmas in Northwest Indiana, the day after the BCS Championship game and less than a month before the Super Bowl? It just never happens that way around here. Never. Ever. By this time last year, my wife and I had shoveled our driveway at least a half dozen times and the kids had already missed a couple of days of school because of snow.

All day Ruth Cioroiano, who manages the pro shop, answers a steady stream of phone calls from golfers asking if the course is open.

Yep, she tells them. And they keep coming and coming, some skipping out of work early to get out for a few swings.

Even Chris Cioroiano, the golf course superintendent for Turkey Creek is shaking his head at the unusual spat of warm weather, which has turned the winter upside down for him. He has never had to make daily decisions on whether to be open or closed in January in his 24 years on the job

Cioroiano and his crew are supposed to be repairing carts, cutting down tree limbs and finishing odd jobs around the clubhouse. This is a lazy, slow time for him. They had plans to remodel the banquet hall behind the bar.

No time for that now.

Instead, Cioroiano spent Monday afternoon cutting holes for the next day and his morning shuttling carts from the barn to the clubhouse.

Typically, Ciorioano shuts the course down after the first snow, which usually falls between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The weather has screwed everything up in a way that isn’t at all bad.

He had to open the course even after a couple of bad weather days after Thanksgiving because every time the weather turned nice, players would invariably meander over and tee it up even though the course wasn’t officially open. At $5 per round and $15 for a cart, there was revenue to be generated.

The day after Christmas, Cioroiano said 100 people played when the weather climbed into the mid 50s. That was the second biggest walk-up crowd of the year for the course. By 1 p.m. Tuesday, 70 players had already teed off — with the warmest part of the day still about two hours off and Ruth Cioroiano expected that number to hit 80.

Lloyd McClendon, a hitting coach with the Tigers, is out playing with a group of 12 guys that are fanatical about getting rounds in through rain, sleet and snow. McClendon has a heater and a cart cover and about three layers of clothes on. He shot a mediocre 84. Didn’t matter all that much. He got his round in. McClendon has played approximately 20 rounds since he returned to Northwest Indiana after the Tigers were knocked out of the playoffs.

“That’s pretty good,” he said.

Jack Parton, the ringleader of winter golfing club is already urging Cioroiano to keep the course open through next week at least. Wednesday is supposed to be another gorgeous day. Snow is coming this weekend, maybe as early as Thursday. Monday and Tuesday could be in the high 30s.

Cioroiano isn’t biting just yet. A big snow and freeze will close the course down. Even if it thaws later, the course will be soft and mushy, not sturdy enough for carts. Cioriano can’t make money unless he can let carts out.

It’ll be touch and go after the weekend, that’s for sure. Cioroaino wouldn’t mind getting some work done for the spring but he’s not going to turn golfers away. He’s got to take advantage of it. It may never happen again this way.