One week of warm weather sure makes a difference.

"It was so super slow," said Quarry Oaks greens superintendent Wilf Peters. "You get staff going and then there was a week of snow. That kind of shut things down again. The moisture was good but it's super slow. Even the leaves right now are not popping yet."

The 27-hole layout near Steinbach opened on April 27th.

"Greens and tees came through very, very well," said Peters. "Fairways have some snow mould and some ice issues. We're seeing spots that with a little bit of warmth we've had and it's still warming up, I've seen a little bit of life in areas so we'll give it a little bit of time and go from there."

"It's a little different than other springs because of the winter that we had," added Peters. "Every winter varies a bit but we had a couple of freeze-thaw cycles in January and February that typically we don't have as much of. Curling in Winnipeg in the MCA bonspiel, it was pouring rain. So coming back here and going around the course, I saw some ice sitting in spots already that I knew could be trouble and then we had another freeze-thaw in February."

It's no secret - April wasn't a great month to grow grass and Peters says the course conditions are a bit behind schedule.

"I'm thinking two weeks for sure. A lot of times by now, we have had, maybe not 30 degrees but we've been in the mid-20's. I checked soil temperatures the other day and they're still way down there. It's amazing what a couple of warm days like we had last week can do. Some leaves did come out and where I didn't think there was a lot of grass left in spots, it was coming. We are a little behind but I think it's going to get there."

2017 will be another busy season for Peters and his crew.

"You're always updating the irrigation system even though we don't know if we're going to get rain or heat. That's one thing we keep working on. We keep working on cart paths and bunkers. Obviously once grass gets growing we'll keep it groomed as best as possible and take if from there."