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ANNI V ER S AR Y

Sun Mountain #5 8.26.13 Sun Mountain #5 10.24.13

A LOOK BACK

The great flood at Paiute

STORY BY BILL BOWMAN
PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED BY LAS VEGAS PAIUTE GOLF RESORT

lash back to August 25, 2013. For most Las Vegans this was the Snow was closed for just 35 days, the Sun for 66 days, and the Wolf
just another day, albeit rainy. But for the Las Vegas Paiute for 126 days. To say it was a miracle would be an understatement.
FGolf Resort, that rainy day turned into a massive flood that Besides all of the turf issues, there were exposed irrigation lines and
swamped all three Pete Dye golf courses on the property. Hundreds electrical. Two of the pump stations, on the Sun and Wolf courses, had
of thousands gallons of rainwater tore through the courses (Snow standing water six-feet high inside the stations.
Mountain, Sun Mountain and Wolf), leaving them—as well as electrical On the course, the damage was just as bad. A total of 21 acres of sod
and irrigation equipment—under water. needed replacement (five acres each on the Snow and Wolf courses
After the clouds emptied, the total devastation was heart wrenching. and 11 acres on the Sun course), and nine of the resort’s 54 greens
“It was a mess, that’s for sure,” says Jeff Reid, director of golf course needed work. Then there was the sand in the bunkers—or lack of it.
maintenance when the floodwaters hit, now the general manager. “One “We brought in 2,500 tons of sand to rebuild the bunkers,” Reid says.
of first things we did was ask for a helicopter. We went up and got video “That equates to 75 tons a day, five days a week, for six weeks.” The
of the entire property while the water was still high for insurance. That staff dumped the sand on the asphalt, only able to take about three
really gave us a feeling for the amount of damage the flooding caused.” truckloads a day out to the bunkers. Roadways were built across the
Millions of dollars in repairs—along with blood, sweat, and, yes, fairways to the bunkers, then dismantled after the sand was back in
tears—saw the courses come back to life. When all was said and done, place.

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