After a 2011 flood left its fairways, greens and tee boxes unusable, the golf course is being rebuilt using 42,000 pounds of grass seed with hopes of opening again next year. The flooded property was sold earlier this year and the new owners intend to rename the property “28 Club.”
Minot (N.D.) Country Club is getting back on course after a flood in 2011 left its fairways, greens and tee boxes dull gray and brown, the Minot Daily News reported.
Layers of silt and high water damaged the grass, while more than 550 shrubs and trees had to be removed. Some trees will be replaced but others will not, depending on location and how they will affect playability, the Minot Daily News reported.
Sale of the club to a group of investors was approved in June and they intend to rename the club “28 Club.” The sale included the land, buildings and golf carts, and though the purchase price was not revealed, an independent evaluation listed the flooded property at $800,000, the Minot Daily News reported.
Greenskeeper Bruce Ruppert has been working on the course, installing a new sprinkler system and adding 42,000 pounds of grass seed to revive it.
“I’ve never done a whole course at one time before,” said Ruppert. “But it’s what we prefer to do.”
The fairway grass is a mixture of 60 percent rye and 40 percent Kentucky bluegrass. The greens are being seeded with a variety of bentgrass that is expected to provide a combination of excellent play and durability. Ruppert operated a lawnmower on the course this week for the first time since the 2011 flood, the Minot Daily News reported.
Play at the course could begin as early as June 2013 if the course continues to grow. When the club does open, the aging clubhouse will be gone, as it is scheduled for demolition. The pro shop was damaged in the flood as well, but will undergo a renovation.
Sections of the earthen dike that protect the course from the Souris River were also damaged in the flood and those areas are expected to be corrected. Initial proposed flood control plans requested by the State Water Commission call for a large dike to be constructed across a portion of the course, though it is not known when or if that plan will be acted upon, the Minot Daily News reported.
The Minot Country Club Board of Directors said they intend to use proceeds from the sale of the old club toward the construction of a new Minot Country Club with “full country club amenities, such as a clubhouse and swimming pool” in southeast Minot. No construction has begun, the Minot Daily News reported.
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