There aren't too many tournaments where you can golf at midnight.
The Canadian North Midnight Classic is one of them and its been around long enough that it has become an annual tradition.
That tradition will continue this afternoon as the 70th edition of the tournament will tee off at noon with the first 18-hole championship round at the Yellowknife Golf Club.
Matthew Gray, the club's general manager and head pro, said 40 people will be teeing it up for the first round.
He's just hopeful the weather holds out.
“I'm hoping they'll get to play under some sunshine,” he said. “The threat of rain is back and forth so who knows?”
The opening round is just part of a full slate of action over the course of the next 30 hours or so. Following the opening round, there will be an 18-hole four-person team scramble at 6 p.m. Scramble rules dictate that everyone tees off on a hole and whoever has the best location off the tee is where everyone will hit their next shot from, a process that happens for every shot after the drive.
Gray said that event proved popular as 20 teams are set to tee off and he had to turn teams away.
“I've already had to say no to about five teams and you don't want to turn anyone away but we just couldn't fit them in,” he said. “I always tell people to sign up early to avoid disappointment.”
The highlight, of course, is the Midnight Flight, which tees off at 11:59 p.m. this evening. A total of 122 players will tee off at that time and play the back nine holes of the course.
“That's what everyone comes for,” said Gray. “It's a bucket list for everyone and that's why the out-of-town players come. They want to be able to say they golfed at midnight and up they come.”
The second 18-hole championship round on Saturday at 9 a.m. will be the final event of the weekend's festivities and Gray said there are 50 players set to go for that one.
In total, there are 285 golfers that will be playing in one or all of the events over the weekend.
“They're coming from all over,” said Gray. “We have golfers from Ottawa, B.C., several coming from the Calgary area. No Americans this year, unfortunately, but it's going to be a great weekend, I predict.”