Michigan Golf Journal July 2020

Michigan Golf Journal idland Flood Midland’s Currie Golf Course Recovers After the Flood By Fred Altvater As if Currie Golf Course i n Midland wasn’t dealing with enough challenges thrown at the golf industry in 2020, the Midland region experienced a flood of biblical proportions on May 20. After two days of extremely heavy rains, two dams that held back the waters of the Tittabawassee River to form Wixom and Sanford Lakes both gave way, allowing a tsunami of water to flood downtown Midland and the Currie Golf Course. Course officials had been alerted to an impending flood and moved the equipment to higher ground and took other flood precautions, but they weren’t prepared for the severity of the flooding when the dams broke. Flood level for the Currie Golf Course is 18 feet. The water crested at 28 feet, causing parts of the course to be submerged under ten feet of water. The Midland Fire Department used a boat to take Currie General Manager, Paul Milholland, to view damage to the clubhouse two days after the initial flooding. “I have never seen so much mud in my life,” Milholland said. “Everything was covered with slippery, slimy mud.” Once the water abated, several inches of dirt and Continues on page 6 >>