Fargo Country Club runs right along the Red River in Fargo. Aaron Porter, an 8-year Superintendent Member of GCSAA, has been the superintendent there for six months.
"I knew when I took the job that there were some flooding problems, but I didn't think we'd see a 500-year flood in my first six months," Porter said. "Especially since they just had a 500-year flood here in 1997."
Porter said that Fargo CC, built in 1896, may have taken a deathblow when the Corps of Engineers and the National Guard began building a dike across the course.
"I was told there would be minimal damage, but then the river kept rising faster... they had 24-hours to build a mile-long dike, so there was no chance they could be non-invasive."
Humvees, front-end loaders, dump trucks carved their way across holes five through nine. Porter said eight holes of Fargo's 27-hole facility have been ruined, including entire greens that have been plowed over. Porter expects the course to lose its clubhouse, maintenance facility, pro shop, golf car storage building, the course and everything that goes with it. He also expects to lose his house, which is on the property. His wife and two children have evacuated to a hotel room in another part of Fargo.
Porter said that his entire crew is working on sandbagging with the help of anywhere from 50 to 100 volunteers. "It's a good effort from the community and the crew, it's just that it's an effort we're going to lose," he said. Flood waters already set a record when it went to 40.5 feet this morning -- the previous record was 39.5 feet. The water is projected to raise to 42 feet.
"Right now we're just worried about taking care of this (flood)," Porter said. "We've done all we can with the city and the Corps. We tried doing as little damage as we could, but that was compromised."
The club had just completed a $500,000 renovation of the clubhouse. The grand opening was to be this Wednesday.
Porter said that since Sunday, he's gotten about two hours of solid sleep. "This has been going on for a week," Porter said. "This is a major disaster."
For now they're still sandbagging wet, frozen sand at the course. And preparing for a record-breaking flood.
"The 18th hole is along the river. Four holes run along the river. They'll eventually be under 20 feet of water."
Porter will email photos this evening when he gets back to his hotel room. I'll update with photos once I receive.
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