After a somewhat mild winter, Hillcrest Golf Club is ready to open for the 2024 season. Hillcrest will open its course to the public on Monday, March 25 after previously planning to open on Friday.

“Yesterday around noon I stared out my office window to maybe an inch and a half to two inches of snow and now we're 80% melted,” Hillcrest head golf professional Brett Wolf said. “So it melted pretty fast. So we're excited. We originally were going to plan on opening this Friday, but we just pushed it back to Monday just to catch up on some maintenance and just let the course dry. Before we ship out a bunch of golf carts on it.”

Wolf said the grounds crew’s goal has been to get the tee boxes, fairways and some areas outside of the greens aerated. He said it needs to get a little warmer for the greens to be aerated and Wolf thinks the greens will start to be aerated around mid-April.

“They will be a little bit slower,” Wolf said about the greens to start the season. “Just because they (the grounds crew) won't be mowing as aggressively as they would in the summertime just because they know that they're going to aerate in a month. They're slow on pace compared to traditional Hillcrest, but they'll be playing pretty smooth.”

In the offseason, Hillcrest has replanted some trees in some better areas to suit the golf course. Hillcrest has also remodeled the men’s locker room as the bathroom was totally redone. The counter at the check-in area of the golf shop is also new, according to Wolf.

The range was also reopened Tuesday morning. It is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day.

Passes and rates for 2024 are available on Hillcrest’s website.

bkelly@durangoherald.com