The last putt found the bottom of the cup this past Sunday at Quarry Oaks.

"It happened very quickly," said head professional Darren Hayden on the end of the golf season. "We had such an incredible June, July & August - maybe the best on record. There were no bugs and plus 30 temperatures almost every day. Very little rain. And then September hit. It was pretty cool overall - well below season norms. October has been brutal. We really weren't ready for it. We went from light switch on, to light switch off basically."

Hayden said traffic at the 27-hole layout near Steinbach was on the upswing.

"2018 was a successful year. A little better numbers all-round than 2017 in terms of rounds played, memberships and tournaments. Those are the big three for us so all three categories were up and that leads to revenue dollars too. So a little bit better business year than the previous year and that translates to everything, food & beverage, merchandise sales - it all goes full circle. When your traffic flow is up, everything else goes up."

Tournament golf and being able to showcase your course can have a huge impact on the bottom line.

"That's our biggest selling feature," said Hayden. "We always try to get new tournaments every year and even repeat tournaments that bring new golfers. Some are new and some have played golf for years but haven't played Quarry Oaks. That's the feedback we seem to get time-and-time again. It's actually a little frustrating because they're like, 'Wow, I didn't know it was so nice out here or I haven't played our there in 10-12 years. I forgot how nice it is,' and we're like, 'Come on out again. Don't be a stranger. It doesn't have to be a decade between games.'"

"There is follow up from that," added Hayden. "Players who have played in tournaments here say it's a great facility and then they create their own small tournament just with their office staff or something or they bring out their buddies because they enjoyed it so much. The variety here is the biggest advantage we have with three very distinctive golf courses. Even when we have a big tournament on we are still open for play to general public on the given day."

Hayden, who joined Quarry Oaks last year, says he was certainly more comfortable in 2018.

"Year one was a larger learning curve. Year two I had a pretty good knowledge base of all of our regulars, league players, evening players and our membership. Those numbers are growing and that's great. Got out and played a little bit with some of those regulars and members and league players and will continue to grow that relationship every year hopefully."