Sixty-five seasons after its grand opening, the Phantom Lake Golf Course is still putting along.
The course has been a destination for local and visiting golfers since the early 1950s.
While the course has now been in operation for the better part of seven decades, golf as a sport has a much longer history in Flin Flon.
Golfing started in earnest in the drained lakebed of Flin Flon Lake, located near the main Hudbay (then HBM&S) complex.
After the lake was drained to access the ore body beneath it, a large, mostly flat portion of the lakebed was used by residents for sports, including golf.
Golfers touted the course by saying it was the only course in the world located at the bottom of a lake. Golfers also mentioned that, on certain holes, you could drive a ball from Saskatchewan and have it land in Manitoba.
Once the Flin Flon Lake golf course fell into disuse, golfers found a new site just north of Phantom Lake, with just enough room for nine holes. Planning for the site began in 1949.
Before those discussions, golfers had only teed from there during novelty competitions. In 1944, Flin Flon resident “Caribou Bill” Anger held a contest where people guessed how many strokes it would take him to drive a ball from Phantom Lake to Flin Flon’s Main School.
The Phantom Lake Golf Club officially opened on June 3, 1951. The course used the old Flin Flon Lake course’s clubhouse, which had been moved to the site and renovated.
Support for the course has come from several sources over its history. Hudbay has stepped in several times to supply funds to the course, as have local groups, service clubs, businesses and community members.
The course still holds several tournaments and events each year, including the Million Dollar Hole in One, the Flin Flon Bomber Golf Tournament and an annual open tournament.
Renovations and updates aside, the layout of the course has not changed dramatically since 1951, taking golfers on a loop through trees, muskeg and rock outcroppings.
The course provides some unique hazards for golfers – there’s no official figure for how many players have lost their balls after hooking a shot into the muskeg or off a rock, but the figure is surely high.
Even if a shot avoids the stationary obstacles, area wildlife like birds and foxes have been known to take away balls and run off with them.
Although the Phantom Lake Golf Course opened 66 years ago, the club marked its 65th anniversary this year.
