There was still a light rain falling in the heart of the Laurentians yesterday afternoon. In gloomy and chilly weather, we observed the impressive “sea” which had engulfed the Val-Morin golf club, hard hit by the overflows of the North River.
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The Laurentians, Lanaudière, Outaouais and Charlevoix regions are hard hit by spring floods. Many golf clubs bordering waterways are not spared. At the rhythm of the showers this week, the leaders have gone through agonizing hours.
This is particularly the case at the Val-Morin* golf club where the Rivière-du-Nord meanders five of the 18 holes, touching the route of the course both on the outward and on the return. Accustomed to the spring flood, which acts up almost every year, the owners have never observed such an overflow.
“It’s by far the worst year since I arrived here 14 years ago,” says club co-owner and general manager Martin Bergeron, staring at the flooded area that stretches as far as the eye can see. to the mountains.
Much more work
On the horizon, we can see three roofs. These houses are unfortunately stuck in the middle of the flooded area, near Lake Raymond, the municipality’s large main lake with about 3000 souls.
“That these holes are under water for a few days, it’s not dramatic,” he says, thinking of his maintenance team. It is above all the surplus work that we will have to cut down to pick up all the scrap that the water has brought to the course.
His team will also have to repair the facilities damaged by the flooding. Despite the six degrees Celsius on the thermometer, she was already hard at work when the Journal appeared.
Bergeron can however console himself even if he will surely have to delay the opening of a week, around mid-May. Its fairways and greens are in good condition.
The return of the sun and warmer weather will slow the flooding and the water will be able to gradually recede by finding the nest in the river.
A few kilometers south of Val-Morin, the Sainte-Adèle Valley golf course is also hard hit by the overflow of the Rivière-du-Nord in the Mont-Rolland area.
Open courses
In Lanaudière, the L’Assomption River submerged the fairways of the Joliette and Base de Roc golf clubs.
“We can’t escape it. We are surrounded by the river. But it’s exceptional this year, drops the general manager, Caroline Mainville, on the phone. We had experienced something similar in 2019. In two days this week, 62 millimeters of water fell, which contributed to the overflow of the river.
“It’s impressive to see the water that has accumulated on the four holes near the river,” she adds as her superintendent, Yann Gagné, assessed the depth at six feet of water in places. .
Yesterday she saw a slight improvement to the flooded areas. It will still open its doors this weekend to let golfers tickle the white ball. The director also believes that this flood will have no effect on the beauty of the course.
A little further south, the co-owner of the Base de Roc club, Hughes St-Amour breathed a sigh of relief this morning when he saw five holes on his course free from the waters of the Assomption River.
“The images are more scary than anything else today. Tuesday was the day the water rose the most, he says as the fleet approached some greens. There is no damage. But we were scared, like every five years.
Seeing the situation improve, the co-owner and general manager therefore decided to open up his course entirely for the weekend.
* For the sake of transparency, the author of these lines is a member of the Val-Morin golf club.
2023-05-04 21:39:44
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