Country club flood mitigation project finished

For the second consecutive year a flood mitigation project at the Lawrence Yacht & Country Club has members who golf scratching their heads if their season will again be interrupted.

The Lawrence Pipe Improvement Plan is a project funded by the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery which was established in 2013 to coordinate rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy. The total funding for the Lawrence project was nearly $9 million.

The work includes the installation of piping and backflow-prevention devices that will hopefully mitigate flooding and improve water quality, through new drainage piping to collect, direct and distribute storm water.

The country club was one of the areas hit hard by Sandy in 2012 and is among the areas where construction took place. The project disrupted golf holes, to the ire of club golfers who are concerned about the start of the golf season. Village Mayor Alex Edelman heard the plight of club members at the Feb. 9 Lawrence board meeting.

“Last year, the golf course was in good shape, but it wasn’t in the greatest shape,” Edelman told the Herald. “Obviously, the golfers who are paying their dues and membership were very annoyed, about the fact that the golf course was not in great playing condition.”

Club members will be happy to know the project has officially been completed and the cleaning up process has begun. The focus now turns to golf course restoration. The club has formed a restoration committee, with several parties tasked with leading the restoration project that will be key to getting the golf course back to full health.

“We have members that are very passionate and loyal,” said Cory Menking, the club’s  general manager. “Some have been here 50 and 60 years, so they want to see their golf course back to normal. They don’t want to see disruptions and they want things to be back to the way it was which is understandable.”

Part of the restoration of the golf course will be provided by the state and state landscapers. Winterberry Irrigation, the company which installed the club’s one-and-a-half-million-dollar irrigation system in 2021, will return to bring all the exposed irrigation lines back underground.

The club will also fully rebuild and restore an outdoor bathroom that was damaged by the state project. New amenities the club has added include a Kosher restaurant and a golf simulator facility.

In the golf world, the season typically starts on Memorial Day weekend and with restoration underway, Edelman is confident about golfers having a normal start to the season.

“We have had several meetings with some of the men’s club members to give them an indication of what’s going on,” Edelman said. “Everything is going to be sodded and seeded in the next couple of weeks. Winterberry contractors are going to put back the sprinklers that were taken out and we’re hoping for a great season of golf.”