You know the golf season is well into the back nine when the sun sets shortly after 7 p.m.

When October arrives, greens superintendents all across southeastern Manitoba start making plans to get their courses ready for winter.

Darren Dundas, the club manager at the La Verendrye golf course in La Broquerie, says 2016 was generally a pretty good year.

"We had a few issues with untimely rains but we still drained very well so we didn't have one day closed this year. It was a very good year for us."

One word that comes to mind when describing the 2016 season - wet.

Especially when your golf course receives just over three inches of rain in 36 hours.

"The learning curve is - we've got to put a little more drainage in this spot or we've got to clean drainage properly in different areas," Dundas said. "You just got to observe what's going on on the course. Mother Nature definitely helped us out in certain situations and in other situations Mother Nature didn't help us. All-in-all the course conditions were fantastic this year and that's the guys outside that did a great job."

There are still at least three and maybe even four weeks left in the golf season and Dundas notes that could pay huge dividends down the road.

"If we can get into the end of October, bottom line, that will be fantastic for us. Rounds will be pretty much on par with the past several years. We defintely need the weather to give us a hand here now that we're into fall."

A lot of work has gone into the 18-hole layout over the past number of years.

"The bulk of our golfers now are of the older generation and they really enjoy it," said Dundas. "We made a couple of modifications to make it shorter in some areas and longer in others. They come out and they love the golf course. For individuals that it's their first time or they haven't been here in several years...they're amazed at the golf course from what it used to be to what it is now."

It was also year two of Footgolf at La Verendrye.

"It's not going away," Dundas said. "Footgolf went over very well again this year. I would like to see another golf club somewhere step up to plate and let's get a rivalry growing. Let's put our club up against your club with footgolf and we can really benefit from it."

As for 2017?

"We're already gearing up for next year," replied Dundas. "We're looking forward to it."