The greens and fairways of the Kialla Golf Club are set to be left empty for an extended period of time after flooding from Honeysuckle Creek significantly damaged both the course and clubhouse.
One of many sporting precincts left reeling from the region’s ongoing flooding crisis, the people of Kialla Golf Club could only sit back and watch as the rapidly rising water engulfed a large majority of the site.
But what makes this even more devastating for Kialla is the fact that wet weather has prevented the public from getting on the course since late July, with the valiant efforts of its greens keepers not enough to get the course back up to scratch.
Initially hoping to welcome back golfers in early November for its much-anticipated ‘Festival of Golf’, the club will have to put those plans on hold, with the possibility of not seeing a return to play until the new year now a harrowing reality.
Chairman of course and greens Brian Reiners said the impact of the damage would be quite significant.
“Our biggest problem is that nobody has played golf at Kialla since July 30 because it’s just been so wet,” Reiners said.
“We were planning on having a festival of golf in November, but that has just gone down the drain because nobody will be able to get on the course.
“The power of the water was just unreal, it has made the grounds around the course almost completely ruined, there are logs in the middle of fairways, greens have been damaged, the impact has been enormous.
“And then the clubhouse itself got saturated with water, the floors, the kitchen, the walls, it all got soaked and made it into a safety hazard — it will certainly be out of action for a while.
“For everyone at the club, this has been a devastating blow.”
But while the damage was devastating, if not for the work of four dedicated members, the fallout could have been much worse.
Unsure what to expect on Friday afternoon, Reiners described what was a hectic effort to save some of the club’s most valuable pieces of machinery.
“I was out on the course at 3pm on Friday and initially thought we were okay, but put a marker down in the line of security cameras just to check on the water level,” he said.
“I then got a call at around 6pm to say we might be in a bit of strife, so myself and four other members ran down to the club to save what we could.
“When they built the first tee, they deliberately made it up high so in the case of flooding machinery could be stored up there, and in the end that paid dividends.
“In the end we saved about six pieces of very expensive machinery, which we were are very grateful for.”
Once the water levels had receded enough that people could enter the club, its members once again rallied, with a group of 23 heading down on Wednesday to assist with the clean-up effort.
“We put out an alert to our members on Tuesday night and the response was incredible,” he said.
“Twenty-three people at the drop of the hat came down and assisted, which was wonderful to see and really helped us.
“But it’s not just Kialla, we’ve had offers from other clubs around the region, Numurkah, Shepparton and Hill Top, they have put out offers to allow our members to play competitions without the green fees.
“The power of the community has been wonderful.”
But for people keen to get back on to the course at Kialla, Reiners said there would be a long road ahead as the clean-up continues.
“It is a bit like how long is a piece of string — if this glorious sunshine was to continue you could say two weeks, but they keep forecasting this rain so it will keep getting pushed back,” he said.
“If the rain continues to fall I could say the start of the December or into the new year, we just don’t know how long it will take.”