Cobbs Creek GC is already back up and running.
"We got about 40 golfers on the course right
now," Cliff Easum, general manager of the four
city-owned courses managed by Billy Casper Golf, said this morning. "They can’t believe we’re open,
either. Our parking lot is full."
Cobbs Creek and sister course Karakung GC had
been shut down since fire destroyed the 150-year-old clubhouse late on the
night of Jan. 4. Karakung remains closed; Cobbs
reopened this morning.
For the next month, until a temporary clubhouse
in the form of a trailer can be set up in the Cobbs
parking lot, operations will be run out of the city-owned Sports Center on City
Line Avenue, also managed by Billy Casper. They would prefer to move into the
trailer sooner, said Easum, but the permitting
required by the city takes time;
there will also be heavy equipment in the parking lot, razing the
remains of the old clubhouse.
There isn’t much to the Sports Center
building. No pro shop, just a
counter, a cash register and rest rooms.
If golfers want to enjoy a chat and a cup of coffee after their rounds,
there are a few picnic tables outside.
Carts are being run out of the batting cages.
Because of the location of the Sports Center on
City Line Ave., golfers are starting their rounds on Cobbs
Creek’s 9th hole, a short walk away. No. 8 is temporarily the finishing hole.
Although the fire marshal has not yet filed a
report on the cause of the fire, the unofficial talk is that foul play is not
suspected. It is known that the
fire started in the basement of the clubhouse, where the furnace and boiler
were located.
The fire came at a time when the city is
considering a multi-million dollar restoration of Cobbs
Creek, a Hugh Wilson-designed course with a long history and a noble pedigree.
The city has issued a RFP (request for proposal), seeking proposals to do the
work.
Although the old Cobbs
Creek clubhouse likely would have been inadequate for a grander, renovated
facility, building a new clubhouse was not part of the RFP. Including that will likely now get
consideration.
For now, Cobbs Creek
regulars are grateful to have their course back up and running, weather
permitting. "We have a lot of
members who are antsy," said Easum.
