LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - The greens and fairways of the Seven Spruce Golf Course were dotted with people on May 8, but instead of golf clubs they had rakes and garbage bags in hand.

The club held its annual spring clean-up on Saturday. Thirty-nine people volunteered to help get the Fort Simpson course ready for the summer golfing season.

Colleen Johnson, left, and Rachelle Pearson fill a garbage bag with freshly raked leaves during the Seven Spruce Golf Course's annual spring clean-up on May 8. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

Tasks included removing snow fences from around the artificial greens, positioning benches and tee box markers and picking up garbage from around the course. Volunteers were also kept busy raking leaves and removing brush.

Taking a quick break, club president Shane Thompson said he was impressed with the turnout at the clean-up. There were families, singles, couples and everyone from children to seniors out today, Thompson said.

"This is starting to become a community golf course," he said.

In addition to getting a head start on the work that's necessary to revive the course after the winter, the clean-up is a way to get members involved in the process.

"It's a pride factor," said Thompson. "It just gets people excited for the season."

From Thompson's perspective, there is a lot to be excited about.

The tournament schedule has already been set. A total of 10 tournaments will take place over the season, beginning with the Opening Tournament on May 29.

There are two new events this year, the glow ball and the hole-in-one tournaments. There has already been a lot of corporate sponsorship interest in the hole-in-one tournament, Thompson said.

Other clubs in the territory are also paying attention. Golfers from Hay River and Fort Smith are already talking about participating in some of the events, he said.

On the course, other clean-up volunteers were also talking about the upcoming season, which officially begins on May 15.

Diane Harold started golfing last year. She plans to get out on a more regular basis this summer.

"It's a good social activity," she said.

Harold said she volunteered for the clean-up, her first, as a way to get involved in the course. Colleen Johnson, who was raking leaves nearby, is also starting her second golfing season.

"I'm just new at this and thought I'd help out," Johnson said about the clean-up.

At the clubhouse Colton Hardisty-Gillis was giving his mother Ramona a hand sweeping off the walkway. At three-years-old Colton was the youngest participant at the clean-up.

Ramona said she came to the event along with her sons Colton and Rylan and her husband Mark as a way to take pride in the facility.

"It's a beautiful course," she said.