It has been a very different world on Cobb Mountain since the Valley Fire devastated the Cobb, Loch Lomond, Harbin, Hidden Valley Lake and Middletown areas on Sept. 12. Close to 1,300 residences were burned to the ground, more than 10,000 people have been displaced, and the long and tedious cleanup and rebuild work is only beginning.
Adams Springs Golf Course was one of a number of businesses heavily impacted by all that the Valley Fire wrought. Its pro shop and clubhouse burned to the ground, its pump house also was destroyed by fire, and a large number of interior golf course trees were damaged. There is still no phone service, still no internet, no electricity in the maintenance barn, and there is a very chilly staff running the pro shop out of the cart barn.
Yet life does go on. While the loss of a pro shop and clubhouse is nowhere near as important in the big picture compared to the loss of lives, homes and lifestyle, the game of golf does provide a healthy and athletic alternative to the drudgery of everyday life. Things have quieted down on Cobb Mountain since those earliest days in September when a cloud of smoke hovered in the air, when the sound of trees crashing on the surrounding hillsides was a constant occurrence, and when the skies were filled with CAL FIRE planes and helicopters.
After one week of heavy watering of the stressed out fairways and greens, the grounds crew of Ron Kenneally, Brian Kysely, Tom Salie and Travis Wolfe began the tedious process of the incremental cutting of the playing ground. You just can’t have fairways that are suddenly four inches high and then cut them down to less than one inch without completely frying them out. The other part of the process was a cleanup and rebuilding effort that included getting rid of all the downed trees and branches that littered the golf course as well as getting all of the damaged bridges repaired that had collapsed under the weight of the emergency vehicles.
The golf course at Adams Springs quietly reopened on Oct. 12 and has had a slow but sure resurgence of play. During that first week, our daily play seldom topped out at more than 20 golfers. Some days we only had a couple of foursomes out on the links. Of course, because of all the power issues, it wasn’t like you could call us or email us to find out the status of the course nor could we alter our web page to formally announce any sort of a reopening. Along the way a handful of tournaments, including the Clear Lake Club Invitational, the Elks Club Tourney, the Eddie Mullins Invitational, the KHS Girls Softball Benefit Tourney, and the prestigious Lake County Amateur, had to be canceled. All of them will return to their usual dates next year.
One of the tournaments impacted by the Valley Fire was the annual Presidents Cup hosted by the Women’s Redwood Empire Niners (WRENs). The WRENs are a collection of women golfers who hold traveling tournaments throughout the spring and the summer at their member courses, and then meet in early October to play their Presidents Cup, albeit their version of the tour championship. Originally the WRENs championship was scheduled to be played at Adams Springs on Oct. 1.
In mid-October, Sandy Tavares of the Adams Springs Women’s Golf Club contacted me about the possibility of a rescheduled WRENs Presidents Cup for early November. There had been some consideration to canceling the tourney this year and there also had been some discussion about moving it to another golf course. However, the Adams Springs ladies were looking forward to hosting the finale of the WRENs season, and since the golf course was in solid shape, the decision was made to host the WRENs on Thursday.
This was a major development for the staff at Adams Springs Golf Course. One of our features is our ability to host quality tournaments and we were looking forward to having some minor semblance of normalcy return to the Jack Fleming-designed course. Of course, there were a few hurdles that had to be dealt with. We needed to order tournament score sheets and scorecards. We also had to order motorized cart keys as they too had burned in the fire. As the tournament date drew closer and closer, I suddenly realized we didn’t have permanent markers for the scoreboard, white out for the mistakes I might make, or a copy machine to run off the rules sheets.
Nonetheless, Herculean efforts were made to turn Adams Springs’ first tee into a picnic grove by the members of the women’s club. The side of the cart barn served as the scoring area, outside food for breakfast and lunch was brought in, the field was filled, and suddenly the tournament had a life of its own. The only final glitch was that the WRENs perpetual trophy also had burned in the fire. There was no way it could be replaced prior to Thursday.
The Presidents Cup went off without a hitch. The home team from Adams Springs prevailed in the two-net better balls of foursome tourney and captured their first WRENs title ever. The Adams team included Debbie Meadows, Joan Morrell, Sandy Tavares and Cheryl Craddick. Hidden Valley Lake was a close second and the top five was rounded out by Oakmont, Buckingham and Black Rock. I really appreciate the way the WRENs ladies conduct themselves and although the competition was stiff and the outcome was close, there were no issues, no complaints and no whining. It was a great day of golf. I do believe that the women who participated in the tournament had a good time, and for the first time in less than two months, Adams Springs Golf Course felt like it used to prior to the Valley Fire. The golf course was full, people were having a great time, and for part of a Thursday, all the worries in the world were put on the back burner.
The Valley Fire has brought heavy duty devastation to a major portion of Lake County. It may be a generation before Cobb is able to fully rejuvenate to its pre-Sept. 12 form. It’s difficult to see all the suffering and blight. Yet something little and minor such as a regional women’s golf tournament can brighten the day, not only for those who play the game, but also for those of us who promote golf.
Yes, Thursday, Nov. 5 was a very good day for the staff at Adams Springs Golf Course.
