Winter is a great season for golf. Snowbirds, traveling thousands of miles to play in its moderate temperatures, flock to Southern California with glee. But this is southern Minnesota, and snow is the only thing inhabiting our courses.

“It’s excellent,” Matt Hallman said of having an off-season for golf.

Hallman, manager of Oak View Golf Course in Freeborn, uses his course’s downtime to focus on the upcoming summer and his clients, a luxury course managers elsewhere don’t always have.

“In the winter I can focus on the next summer’s tournaments,” Hallman said. “If we were open year-round, I’d have to wait for organizations to contact me. This way I can be more proactive in making sure those events return.”

Hallman is also able to concentrate on the retail aspect of the course and the needs of his customers, something that’s harder to do in the summertime, he said.

“I can focus on the pro shop and all the new equipment coming in,” he said. “A lot of times I am busy with club repair and regripping.”

Hallmann also uses the off-season to balance budgets and plan course improvements. And while there are currently no major improvement plans, Hallman does try and do one small project each summer.

“We’re a small course and try and stay in the black, financially,” he said. “Last year we elevated the tee box on Hole 7. We do little improvements, mostly on the course.”

It’s not all work in in the winter, though, as the course occasionally hosts parties and receptions.

“We’ve had New Year’s Eve and Super Bowl parties in the past,” Hallman said. “We use word-of-mouth advertising, and they’re open to the public, but it’s usually just a bunch of my buddies.”

The clubhouse also has a golf simulator where once or twice a week a group of guys come to play indoor golf.

And while Hallman enjoys the opportunities an off-season provides him to focus on business, he is most thankful for the time it allows him to coach and spend with him family.

“It’s nice to have extra time off to coach basketball and to see my kids play,” he said. “Basketball happens five days a week.”

Hallman, now entering his fourth year as course manager, realizes year-round golf would be nice but can’t complain with the situation winter’s dealt.