Ottawa golfers spending Christmas Eve on the greens

As the temperature hovered around 5 C ona foggy Ottawa morning on Dec.23,Rob Gosseand Ian Pedley hit the greens atFalcon Ridge Golf Course and they're planning on doing it all over again on Christmas Eve.

"I'd probably be out here on Christmas Day or Boxing Day if I could,but my family might have an issue with that,so this is the closest I can get to golfing on Christmas," Pedley said.

Gosse said he'll be thinking of his golfer friends in snow-coveredparts of Canada when he arrives for his tee time on Christmas Eve.

"They don't have the opportunity. You know they're sitting there, shovelling the driveway or scraping ice off something," he said. "You know they want to be out here."

The owner of Falcon Ridge Golf Course said this is the first time the links have been open on Christmas Eve and the day is fully booked with 140 golfers expected.

"We could've put 10 times as many people out. We're one of the only courses open right now and basically the phone's been going off the hook. We're saying, 'Sorry we don't have a tee time,'" said ownerSteve Spratt.

"It's very rare. I mean, in our climate, every 10 years you might get this."

TheCanadian Golf and Country Club in Ashton, Ont. andChamplain Golf Club in Aylmer, Que. are also open on Christmas Eve.