THIS UNUSUAL spring season hasn't presented much of a downside for many golf courses around the state.

Play is up and the courses are holding firm.

“We're doing pretty well,” said Stanley Jaworski, superintendent of the Derryfield Country Club in Manchester. “We don't usually have all 18 open in March.”

The warm weather that swept through the region in March allowed courses to open sooner than usual and brought out eager golfers in droves. The drop in temperature — more typical for this time of the season — might have slowed down play a bit, but it hasn't affected golf course conditions too much.

Rob Horn, superintendent at the Stonebridge Country Club in Goffstown, said the he and his crew are watering the course more than they usually would at this time of the year because there hasn't been much rainfall and little or no snow runoff.

“And we're getting a lot of things cleaned up because the ground is nice and firm,” Horn said. “It's not as muddy as it usually is.”

That's a welcome change at Derryfield.

“We're known as a wet course,” Jaworski said. “We usually struggle to open the lower nine until mid to late April.”

Not this year.

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PREPPING FOR STRATHAM: Chelso Barrett of Keene, runner-up at last year's U.S. Junior Amateur, is starting to ready himself for this year's event at the Country Club of New England in Stratham by spending his April vacation playing in a couple of high profile tournaments.

He was in Naples, Fla., this weekend for the 17th annual Terra Cotta Invitational at Naples National Golf Club, and travels later this week to Graniteville, S.C., for the second annual Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club, a prestigious invitation-only tournament for the top 54 juniors in the world.

The Terra Cotta tournament has drawn some of the best junior golfers in the world. Last year's winner, Emiliano Grillo of Argentina, earned a spot on the European PGA Tour this year at 18 years old.

Matt Kuchar beat Sergio Garcia to win the tournament in 1997.

Kuchar, of course, is the son of Manchester native Peter Kuchar and spent his summers at Newfound Lake in Bristol.

Kuchar has gone on to a successful career on the PGA Tour; he briefly led this year's Masters before finishing third. Barrett's career, on the other hand, is just starting.

The 17-year-old son of former New Hampshire State Amateur champion Hugh Barrett is a junior at Keene High.

This year's U.S. Junior Amateur will be held at the Golf Club of New England from July 16-21.

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FOLLOWING IN THE STEPS OF LORD BYRON: Dartmouth senior Peter Williamson of Hanover was recently named one of five finalists for the Golf Coaches Association of America's Byron Nelson Award. The award goes to a senior and is based on his academic and golf career and “particular consideration will be given to a nominee's good citizenship, as portrayed by Mr. Byron Nelson over the course of his life and golf career.”

Williamson is a two-time Ivy League champion. He and his Big Green teammates opened the spring season by finishing second last week at Yale Opener. Williamson was second individually to Tennessee's Rick Lamb at even-par 140.

The Big Green went into this weekend's match with Princeton having finished no lower than third in their last four matches, including wins at the Big 5 Invite and The Classic at Rhode Island.

Email Jim Fennell at jfennell@unionleader.com.