Irrigation work at Forest Park GC in Valparaiso, Ind., will cost at least $100,000 while rebuilding three holes at nearby Creekside GC will also be required after being under water for a week.
Three holes at Creekside Golf Course in Valparaiso, Ind., need rebuilding after being under water for a week, while irrigation at nearby Forest Park Golf Course needs extensive work and overall repairs that will cost at least $100,000, the Chicago-based Post-Tribune reported.
Golf courses in the area suffered after 14 days of rain and flooding kept properties closed. Valparaiso Parks Golf Superintendent Rich Frey hopes to have a better estimate on damages from the August 21 deluge after meeting with insurance adjusters, the Post-Tribune reported.
Forest Park needs two pedestrian bridges replaced, but the front nine holes opened after two days and the back nine after four, the Post-Tribune reported.
Creekside’s driving range opened after a couple days, but the course reopened August 30. However, four to six acres of Creekside need rebuilding and resodding that will keep them unusable for the rest of the season, the Post-Tribune reported.
Staff will “essentially reconstruct those fairways,” Frey said.
Fairways 2, 3 and 10 have a layer of silt from overflow from Salt Creek, although the green on 10 was high enough to be saved. Staff put in a new tee area towards the south, allowing Creekside to open with nine holes.
After silt removal, sod needs to cover areas that saw turkey vultures hovering to eat fish trapped on the fairway when Salt Creek receded, the Post-Tribune reported.
Some minor equipment needs replacing, too. Besides bridge replacement, Forest Park needs work on the irrigation station, which saw the pumps underwater. If the pump mechanisms aren’t salvageable, Frey knows the new one cost $5,000 and estimates the larger will cost $10,000, the Post-Tribune reported.
The Parks Department also will reconfigure the pump station to avoid motors ending underwater again, the Post-Tribune reported.
As golf superintendent, Frey will have to pay for initial repairs out of his accounts and hope insurance covers it, the Post-Tribune reported.
With the long winter, it’s been a tight year for golf, and it cost $2,500 a day to close Forest park and $1,000 a day to close Creekside and $1,000 to close its driving range. He’s optimistic given that his team got Creekside functional in about a week, the Post-Tribune reported.
“There are a lot of things to be happy about. A lot of people worked hard to get it to this state,” Frey said.
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