Estes Park Golf Course and the Lake Estes Executive Golf Course are repairing flood damage four weeks after raging waters washed away portions of roads, sewer lines, and infrastructure. In Venice, Fla., Lake Venice Golf Course is also struggling with flooding, but is blaming contractors for drainage issues.

Four weeks after the flooded waters of Fish Creek washed away great portions of roads, sewer lines, and other key infrastructure, two of the golf courses in Estes Park, Colo., are estimating damage at more than $1 million, the Estes Park (Colo.) Trail-Gazette reported.

Officials says it’s still to early to get an exact estimate of the cost to repair damage to the 18-hole Estes Park Golf Course and the nine-hole Lake Estes Executive Golf Course. Estes Park Golf Course officials say most of the serious damage to that course was on the 17th and 18th holes, the Trail-Gazette reported.

“We now have 6- to 8-foot cliffs in there,” said Mark Miller, Director of Golf for Estes Park GC. “[The 17th hole] will require quite a bit of work.”

Floodwater also took out a big chunk of the adjacent fairway on No. 18. Between the two holes, Miller said the course lost about 4-5 acres of land. The rest of the course continues to be saturated by a steady flow of water from normal runoff flows and water from nearby residents as they continue to flush out their basements, the Trail-Gazette reported.

“It just runs onto the course,” Miller said. “We have had so much water on the course and we’re still saturated (after a month). It’s affected every hole.”

The driving range is so soggy after four weeks, that Miller said he can’t drive a golf ball retrieving machine on the range. Golf balls have to be recovered by hand. Further, the golf course is in the No Flush zone, meaning visitors to the golf course must use portable potties, the Trail-Gazette reported.

The Hangar Restaurant, operated by concessionaire Buff Carter, also has its issues, the Trail-Gazette reported.

“We’re open but we have no sewer,” Carter said. “That means we have to use plastic ware and paper plates. That makes it kind of rough. It’s not what people expect. It’s different.”

Carter kept the restaurant open year round last year for the first time and had a great response. That was his plan this year before the flood, but now, with business already down 65 to 70 percent, he plans to close the restaurant when the course closes down for the winter, the Trail-Gazette reported.

The smaller, nine-hole golf course didn’t lose a green but “took a lot of damage to the turf,” Miller said. The severe damage was limited to the island green No. 6 hole and the adjacent No. 7 hole, where the waters from the Big Thompson River and Fall River flow by on their way into Lake Estes, the Trail-Gazette reported.

“The riverbed by No. 6 will need some new rock,” Miller said. “And, the turf around No. 7 got covered with so much debris and silt. We also don’t know if the water system, which we just put in two years ago, was damaged.

“However, the pump house survived and the two bridges survived.”

Despite the damage to the courses, golfers continue to show up and play 16 holes at a pro-rated fee, the Trail-Gazette reported.

“I’m optimistic. You have to be,” he said. “We’re like everyone else around here. We’re all waiting our turn (for financial assistance). We’re working through it.”

In Venice, Fla., Lake Venice Golf Course is also struggling with flooding and drainage issues, but is blaming contractors hired by the Venice Municipal Airport for a project that cost $1.5 million, the Sarasota (Fla.)-based ABC 7 reported.

One third of the course’s 27 holes have been closed over the past few months to add safety zones. The course, which is on rented airport property, was scheduled to reopen in November, but it is now plagued with drainage and erosion problems, ABC 7 reported.

“I don’t know where all the problems are,” said General Manager Rod Parry. “There is all this stuff at the end. You know how projects are at the end. I am at the point now that I am at my end. I need it to be open.”

In one area, a small lake has formed in the middle of a hole. Airport administrator Chris Rozansky said they are aware of the issues. “It became evident that the area is holding more water than the designer originally intended.”

The recent record rains have caused a large pipe to rise up from the ground causing more erosion problems. A fix by the contractor was already tried once before, ABC 7 reported.

“We thought we had fixed it once but it turns out we have to go back in there with a slightly different approach,” Rozansky said. Rozansky is optimistic that the problems can be corrected on time, ABC 7 reported.

“At this point we would like to have it ready for them when they come back to play,” said Parry, referring to winter golfers.