Page 14 - GBC Magazine Winter ENG 2023

14
Golf Business Canada
9 Ways
to Save Your Clubhouse/ Maintenance Shed from Wildfires
1. Beware of embers. Wind-driven firebrands ignite most structures that are lost during wildfires.
2.Surround your clubhouse and deck with a “flame free” 1.5m zone. Use non- combustible mulches (i.e. gravel), green lawn, and high-moisture flowers and shrubs.
3.Space evergreen trees and shrubs at least 10m from your clubhouse and leave twice that distance between trees. Prune them to keep branch tips 2m above the ground and remove needle accumulations beneath trees.
4.Keep your turf mowed and watered. Trim tall grasses and weeds away from wooden fences, edging and combustible objects.
5. Don’t allow leaves or evergreen needles to accumulate on, under, or between the boards of your deck and patio.
6. Eliminate flammable items like firewood, gas-powered equipment and construction materials, or store them at least 10m from any structure.
7. Remove combustible objects like furniture pads, mats, recycling, firewood and propane from your deck and patio when not in use. Never store combustibles under the deck!
8. Inspect and seal any external vent on the roof, walls and soffits with 3mm metal screen.
9. Ensure clubhouse roof is made of fire rated material. Keep roof gutters free of leaves and litter.3
Wildfires devour the forest and quickly approach Trestle Creek Golf Course, AB.
numerous Quebec golf course properties were significantly impacted by the heavy weight of the ice on trees, snapping limbs throughout the property and snapping golf course netting/poles.
“In early April, our driving range was hit with the ice storm,” stated Daniel Pilon, NGCOA Canada President and Owner of Club de Golf St-Zotique. “We had nearly $350,000 in damages that were covered by insurance, however, we still have to work on the lost revenues.”
Pilon continued, “Most of the delay is due to negotiation with the insurance which was not an easy task. We have nearly 5 months in lost revenues to consider, which would include the range balls of course, but we are also a fitting center for a few companies, and we have pros that lost thousands in teaching revenues as well.”
SUMMER OF FIRE IN WESTERN CANADA
In late April, Alberta was hit hard by the early fire season. As of mid-May, there were over a dozen wildfires throughout the province, specifically in the Edson, Grande Prairie, High Level, Rocky Mountain House, Slave Lake and Whitecourt districts. Evacuation orders were issued for multiple communities throughout the province. Over 300 members of the Canadian Armed Forces were sent to different parts of Alberta to help.
“We opened on April 29th and had a beautiful hot day. Around 3:30pm, a wildfire started near our course and an evacuation notice was given a few hours after that. Our facility ended up being the Command Centre for the Firefighters. We had helicopters landing on our first hole and filling buckets from our ponds. It was quite something to watch how organized the firefighters were and the efforts they put in to battle the fires!” said Art New, Head Professional at Trestle Creek Golf Course in Alberta.
The fire monster seemed to calm down after the worst of it in May across the province (but continued in regions through the summer), with a total of 998 wildfires this year, representing a loss of over 1,200,000 hectares so far in the province.