Wearing multiple layers of clothing, topped off by heavy coats, hats and gloves, 45 teams played nine holes of golf on frozen Presque Isle Bay on February 22, the Erie (Pa.) Times-News reported.
The annual Joe Root’s Frostbite Open, a fundraiser put on by the Presque Isle Partnership, drew 160 golfers who hit balls over the snow-covered ice. “A lot of people can’t say they’ve done this,” golfer Greg Wells said.

The novelty of golfing on a frozen bay drew some of the participants, while others were eager to get outdoors amid a cold and snowy winter, or simply enjoy the beauty of the bay and Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pa., which will benefit from the $60 per-person funds raised by the golf tournament, the Times-News reported.

“I think it’s a good breakup for winter,” said golfer Al Zimmerman.

Jon DeMarco, executive director of the nonprofit partnership, said the group hoped to raise $10,000, with a portion of that going toward a nature play space at Beach 11, the Times-News reported.

The Frostbite Open was suggested by Joe Root’s Grill owner Elmer Kiesel, who still supports the event that is organized by the nonprofit partnership. Participants got a hot meal at the grill after they finished golfing. Started on Presque Isle Bay in 2011, the tournament’s 2012 and 2013 versions had to be played on Presque Isle’s beaches because the water wasn’t frozen. The event returned to the bay in 2014, the Times-News reported.

This year’s par 36 course, which was 873 yards and covered 14 acres, brought the usual challenge of finding balls that went off the plowed fairways and into snow that was sometimes a foot deep. While some golfers carried their clubs in traditional bags, others adapted to the conditions, opting to pull their clubs on plastic sleds, the Times-News reported.

This year, instead of trying to dig out golf balls, participants were encouraged to use bright orange Frostbite Open logo tennis balls that were easier to see and find in the snow. Some golfers found that added another challenge to the game and decided that woods were better than irons for hitting tennis balls between the tees and holes, with distances ranging from 53 to 151 yards, the Times-Newsreported.

The “putting greens,” which were cleared of most of the snow, didn’t have actual holes cut through the ice. Golfers didn’t have to worry about losing balls into the bay water and tried instead to hit the flagpoles, the Times-News reported.

Wells, who was wearing four layers of clothing, said it was hard swinging a golf club in winter gloves and a coat. Still, Mother Nature was generous to the golfers, providing temperatures above zero, little wind, few snowflakes and even some sunshine, the Times-News reported.

“Couldn’t ask for a better day,” DeMarco said, adding that the 2015 tournament went well.

SOURCE: Club and Resort Business