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Coeur d'Alene Golf Club seeks help for wind damage

| April 22, 2021 1:25 AM

COEUR d'ALENE — The Coeur d’Alene Golf Club wants to — and has a stated mission to — keep the game of golf affordable, but Mother Nature hasn’t been helping lately.

January’s windstorm has put the course at a huge financial disadvantage.

The reason? A total of 47 uprooted mature pine trees, 22 more trees that had to be cut down, driving range standards and netting destroyed, cart paths, fencing and sprinkler lines damaged and maintenance equipment crushed.

While insurance is just now covering some of the damage, it’ll be up to golf course management to come up with the rest, to the tune of about $50,000.

Rather than drastically increase green fees, the nonprofit Friends Of The CDA Public Club Foundation, formed a couple of years ago, has mounted a fundraising drive to raise that money. Because the company has 501(c)(3) status, donations are tax-deductable. Local golf enthusiast and owner of Adams Coeur d’Alene Tractor, John Adams, is chairman of the grass roots fund drive.

“We’re asking the thousands of golfers that enjoy our public course every summer to make a donation and help us raise the $50,000,” Adams said in a press release. “We don’t want to increase our fees. We want to observe the mission statement of the course and keep golf affordable for everyone. Donations by area golfers will help us do that.”

Adams indicated 100% of the donations will go toward replacing the damaged materials and equipment needed to keep the course operating.

Ken Catalano, board member of the nonprofit, said insurance companies used to cover a majority of wind damage to trees at golf courses, but lately, have changed their policies to cover very little of tree damage.

Total damage to the course, Catalano said, was in excess of $200,000. The course was able to save some money on cleanup expenses through in-house labor, as well as other cleanup work performed at a deep discount.

The nonprofit, Catalano said, was formed to maintain affordable golf rates at the course, and to provide opportunities for youth to play golf at the course.

Greens fees are just under $40 for 18 holes.

Money raised through the nonprofit's fundraising would be earmarked for covering repairs to the driving range.

The golf course is a for-profit entity, which operates as a "cooperative," meaning there are no owners, Catalano said.

In general, seeing a golf course with so many trees knocked over by a windstorm is usually a sad thing.

However, most golfers who play regularly can cite that one tree (or any hazard) that routinely gets in their way of a good round — and they privately say they wouldn't mind if that tree or hazard somehow went away.

"The only tree that affected me was a tree on 17," Catalano said, referring to a tree on the corner, where the fairway sharply doglegs to the right, that sometimes gets in the way of tee shots trying to cut the dogleg. "I'm glad it's gone."

Adams said donations can be made at the Coeur d'Alene Golf Club pro shop or online at cdapublicgolffriends.com

photo

Courtesy photo A piece of equipment in the maintenance area between the first and ninth fairways is crushed by a fallen tree during January's windstorm.