Overland flooding is closing roads and flooding farmland, but it’s also cutting into tee times after the Wabash Creek jumped its banks and flooded a portion of the Westlock Golf Course.
However, the worst-case scenario was avoided after waters receded between April 23 and 26 and 14 holes were playable by the weekend. Head golf pro Kevin Lynes said at one point the golf club was looking at the possibility of having its entrance road washed out.
As it was, only part of the road was lost, however, holes three and four were completely submerged for the earlier part of the week and a couple of footbridges were lost.
“It’s the worst that we’ve ever seen since the golf course opened, according to some of our older members,” he said. “The water has receded a few inches, so that’s a good sign but now the major cleanup is underway.”
While the course was closed for the better part of the week for cleanup, Lynes said the driving range was now open and 14 holes were playable starting April 28.
Lynes said it was the hard work and dedication of volunteers that made the difference.
“There’s over 50 volunteers helping out,” he said. “It’s been fantastic. It just goes to show that the outpouring of support is always there and that’s what keeps the club going.”
Despite this being the worst flood in the course’s history, Lynes said things could have been much worse and was thankful it happened early in the season.
“If there’s any kind of saving grace, its that the ground is frozen,” he said. “Greens and fairways won’t wash away so readily because of that. If it were summertime and all this water was going through, then we would have seen stuff washed out.”
Lynes did not have an estimate to how much the repairs would cost, noting that the extent of the damage won’t be known until the waters recede.
Even with the damages, Lynes was hoping for business as usual.
“I’m optimistic that we’ll be up and running with a full 18 before you know it,” he said before they were able to partially open the course over the weekend.
“It’s just a lot of water that’s leaving a lot of debris, but it looks like we’re mainly going to be cleaning up instead of reconstructing the course.”
