Golf course to reopen following dike maintenance

The head pro of the Wheat City Golf Course said he’s expecting golfers to hit the links again on Thursday, after crews demolished a section of the dike surrounding part of the course last week, pausing the season.

Dave Scinocca said cleanup work should be completed tomorrow near the tee boxes of the second hole.

“It’s not as bad as what people think. They’re doing regular proactive maintenance on the dike in the next few years. It’s just got a little erosion in certain spots that are weakening,” Scinocca, who is also the course’s director of golf, said in an interview on Tuesday.

He said the proactive work that started Friday, and is being carried out by city crews and Alternative Landscaping, is preventing a major problem from arising later.

“It’s just going to need a little bit of work here and there over the next five to 10 years, just to make sure it’s reinforced and holding the water back properly,” Scinocca said.

City spokesperson Merrilea Metcalf said crews inspected the site and did stabilization work to make sure the area is secured.

“The city has been closely monitoring a localized area of slope erosion along the berm near the Wheat City Golf Course,” Metcalf wrote in an email.

“Erosion increased this spring as ice receded and water levels rose.”

She said there is “no immediate risk” to public safety.

The Assiniboine River is under a flood warning, the province said in a bulletin issued last Thursday.

The city’s emergency co-ordinator on Monday advised people to stay away from the river.

Water levels had receded recently, but are expected to rise again later this week, Tobin Praznik said.

At the course, Scinocca said crews had to remove a few trees and have since rebuilt a section of the dike.

“They’ve built the dike out a little bit and just reinforced it, they’ve added more rock and soil and clay and whatever they use there, and just to build it up and make it stronger,” Scinocca said.

He said there is “very minimal” damage to the course. Large equipment went across the fairway, but did so in an area that’s out of play for most people, he added.

“It’s close enough to the tee box that it’s not going to really affect any playability of the hole moving forward.”

On Facebook last week, the golf course said the second hole would temporarily be turned into a par 3 until the end of May instead of remaining a par 4.

Scinocca said staff will have a better look at the hole on Wednesday and make a decision on the layout but are now planning to keep it as a par 4 with a regular layout.

After some cleanup, he said the hole will be “more than playable.”

Scinocca said some bookings were affected over the weekend after the course opened for the season last Wednesday, but that it wasn’t busy as the weather hasn’t been great for golfing lately.

He also thanked the city for rectifying the situation so quickly.

“It looks like a pretty good weekend coming up. So we’re excited to get the course going again and see people back out there,” he said.

Alternative Landscaping didn’t return a request for comment before press time.

» alambert@brandonsun.com