DE PERE, Wis. (WFRV) – Wednesday’s unusually nice weather surprised golfers across the state, and the Hilly Haven Golf course was no stranger to the sun.

Located in De Pere, the golf course was one of many that experienced business from members they hadn’t seen since the summer. Kristin Stelzer, the business director at Hilly Haven, told Local 5’s Samantha Petters how great it was to see everyone taking advantage of the day and spending it at their golf course.

“It is a bonus day we call these in the golf course business, so whether they’re taking off of work or maybe they’re retired and they have a free, open schedule, it is a joy to see each and every person out here today,” beamed Stelzer.

Kristen said the course was more crowded than it’s been in weeks, and people started arriving at the course early Wednesday morning. Bob Pointer and his son-in-law Drew Baney were two of the many golfers who chose to spend their day playing a round of golf.

Pointer has been a member at Hilly Haven for about five years and goes to the course often. He said being able to play in shorts in mid-November was really nice.

“We’re out here playing golf; it’s such a beautiful day today,” said Pointer. “I think it’s the first golf round I’ve played in shorts up here in a while, so it’s awesome.”

The two golfers said they were happy to be able to spend the morning playing all 18 holes and were hoping for some birdies during what could be their last time on the course this season.

“My weather forecast says that’ll probably be the last warm, nice, non-windy day,” explained Pointer. “I think tomorrow’s gonna be in the sixties, but it’s going to be really windy out here, so this might be the actual last day for us.”

While Pointer is retired and can hit the links as often as he likes, Baney suspected he wouldn’t get another chance to play a round in weather this nice until next year, so he took the morning off to spend a couple of hours on the course with Bob.

“I made sure to get up and do a little bit of work this morning. I work this afternoon, but four hours out of the morning, I can’t beat it,” said Baney. “Usually, all the ponds are frozen by now; you’re bouncing balls off the ice, so it’s nice to be out here in the warm.”

Kristin Stelzer said mother nature dictates whether the course remains open or closed. She said they know it’s time to close up as soon as they start to see snow on the ground.

“The seasons can change; some years we’re open until December, other years we close up in November,” said Stelzer. “But this is not a normal November day here at Hilly Haven, and we want to thank everyone for choosing to spend the day here; it is a joy to see everyone, and we love that people choose to play their round of golf here.”