Sunshine has a way of brightening the mood of any golf operator.

And if blue skies come at a time of year when it is not always expected, well, they can become downright giddy.

No wonder so many are smiling in Central Oregon so far this autumn.

“This fall has been good for our bottom line,” says Zach Lampert, the head professional at the city-owned Meadow Lakes Golf Course in Prineville. “Anytime the weather in October and beyond cooperates, it is a nice bonus. For us, we had a fairly flat summer season, so this fall has allowed us to get a little ahead of where we were a year ago, and stay on track with our budget.”

Through the first half of October, the National Weather Service’s Redmond station reported an average daily temperature of 56.1 degrees, 6 degrees higher than average. And the trace amount of precipitation has been about a quarter-inch less than normal.

For an industry that is as weather dependent as any business in Central Oregon, such warm, dry conditions can be a blessing.

And so far, golfers have responded.

At Meadow Lakes, golf rounds are up 5 percent and golf revenue is up 14 percent in September and October compared with the same months in 2013, Lampert says.

Similar boosts have been felt elsewhere. In fact, most of Central Oregon’s public golf courses are reporting a stronger-than-normal fall.

“So far this fall we have had about the same amount of play as we did throughout the summer months, and we are seeing a lot of new faces out here as well,” says Michael Shipley, who manages The Greens at Redmond. “The weather has definitely helped contribute to this.”

The boost is not limited to golf rounds.

At Pronghorn Golf Club near Bend, September was the “best month in our company’s history,” says Jerrel Grow, the resort’s director of golf. And Eagle Crest Resort set a food-and-beverage sale record for September, according to Ron Buerger, that resort’s director of golf.

Even with the fall uptick, daily crowds at most courses are typically nowhere near the size of a busy summer day. But it still makes a difference to most golf courses, especially with winter on the horizon.

“The additional revenue adds to the reserves built up over the season that carry us through the winter,” says Rob Malone, the director of golf at Aspen Lakes Golf Course in Sisters.

The key is that it is a bonus at a time of year when golf courses do not necessarily expect to be busy.

“Anytime we can get this kind of activity in the fringe or winter season, it makes a sizable difference for us,” says Pat Huffer, head pro at Crooked River Ranch. “Last year’s early winter and weak early spring hurt us for sure.”

The fall weather also affects a course’s turf.

Through Oct. 15, Aspen Lakes had just four frost delays. That has allowed the course to mend from fall aeration far quicker than normal because the turf continues to grow, Malone says.

In addition, some courses have been able to hold on to their seasonal maintenance staffs longer than usual. That has allowed for some to get “more maintenance done before the end of the season, as well as some of our side projects, such as new tee boxes and a few aesthetic changes throughout the course,” says Shipley.

That is all good news for golf courses that begin to go dormant by late October.

And warm autumns provide at least one more advantage for golfers and golf courses alike — a longer golf season.

Of course, in Central Oregon this could disappear in a flash with one good cold snap. But even at some courses that close for the winter, there is reason to hope for a few more weeks to the season.

“We do plan on keeping the course open as long as possible, and in the past we have made it to Thanksgiving,” says Brad Hudspeth, the general manager of Widgi Creek Golf Club. “We will see what Mother Nature thinks about that plan.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7868, zhall@bendbulletin.com.