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Golf craze sweeps Nunavut

No natural grass, lots of hazards, but you can play at midnight

SARA MINOGUE

"At first it was just a couple of individuals that got together, got some astroturf, laid it down out, set up a couple of flagpoles and started hitting balls towards them," says RCMP Constable Sean O'Brien of Arviat.

Three years later, Arviat has a nine-hole course, a golf association, an annual tournament, and a lot of kids whacking balls.

In fact, the whole Kivalliq region is experiencing a trend that has already been noticed in southern Canada and Nunavik — golf is cool, and not just for old men in plaid.

Even Jordin Tootoo is a fan. In a recent radio interview, he said his summer plans include golf, golf and more golf.

O'Brien noticed the trend when he first arrived in Arviat in July 2002. All over town, he says, kids would be hitting golf balls, sometimes with makeshift clubs. He speculates the popularity went up when Canadian golfer Mike Weir won the 2003 Masters Tournament.

"The course is pretty rough to southern standards," O'Brien says. "There'll be shots off a tee because we don't have grass or anything like that, but it's really taken off here in Arviat."

Last summer's golf tournament in Arviat drew 60 — some from as far away as Coral Harbour and Cambridge Bay. O'Brien guesses there are about 200 players in Arviat, which has a population of just 2,300. He also suspects that "more will start when the course is improved."

By holding bingos and card tournaments, the Uvagut Golf Association has raised over $50,000 to put towards artificial greens, which cost $10,000 a hole. That will make the course permanent.

"We've gotten a lot more organized," says O'Brien, who yesterday donated $3,000 to the Arviat Uvagut Golf Association on behalf of the Mounted Police Foundation.

The money will go towards clubs that local kids will be able to borrow from the Golf Association. O'Brien sees it as a healthy alternative to drugs, alcohol and crime.

Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet both have golf courses. Coral Harbour got its first golf course five years ago, and has since opened a new course further out of town. Together, the golf courses in Coral Harbour host about 35 regulars who play for free.

"Nearly every day we play golf," says Noah Matoo, maintenance foreman in Coral Harbour's Housing Office and a member of the new golf association. "There's about four hours of sunlight after work right now." The golf season lasts until roughly October.

The golf course in Coral Harbour has been a great fundraising tool. Beginning in July, the community starts holding tournaments ,where the proceeds of a $20 entrance fee are split between the golf course and different charities.

Three months ago, the players formed the Coral Harbour Golf Association, with four executives and five members. They plan to host their own tournament on Labour Day weekend in September, inviting the whole of Keewatin.

The golf association also plans to advertise in Winnipeg and Thompson, Manitoba.

"We go down south once in a while and we're trying to get to know some people from down south who play golf and get them out fishing or out on the tundra," Matoo says.

Golfers in Arviat also hope a new golf course could affect tourism.

"When sport hunters and fishermen come up here, why not play a round of midnight golf?" O'Brien says.

Golfing in the Arctic certainly has its appeal.

The community of Holman, on the western side of Victoria Island in the Northwest Territories claims that it attracts golfers from all over the world to "the most northerly golf course on the North American continent."

Tourist outfitter Arcticvoyager in Tromsø, Norway runs golf tours in the Norwegian Arctic, billed as "The Ultimate Golf Adventure on the Top of the World." The Akureyri Golf Club in northern Iceland hosts its "Arctic Open" under the midnight sun every June.

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