An army of volunteers descended on the Fairview Mountain Golf Course in Oliver on Wednesday to finish off cleanup efforts after a destructive mudslide struck more than two weeks ago.
General Manager Brian McDonald said the mudslide occurred overnight on March 23.
It spread at least 2,000 yards and covered five holes.
“The damage was extensive,” McDonald said. “There was a lot of debris here. In the end it was over 3,000 cubic tonnes that had to be removed from the site.”
The course had only reopened for the season for one day before the mudslide forced its closure for the next two weeks.
McDonald said the Oliver wildfire of 2015 led to unstable ground above their property.
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“Once they did the control burn to try and fight that wildfire above us we’ve started to see water accumulate and channels start to flow that I hadn’t seen in the first 22 years here,” he said.
The collective effort to clean up the mess is led by longtime members who’ve put in hundreds of hours of work.
“We are all here just because we love this course,” said Bill Boyd.
“If you don’t volunteer it just doesn’t get done fast enough,” Lance Johnston said.
“Great camaraderie out here and I think we all want to get the course up and running again,” Jim McConnell said.
“The course was built on volunteers many years ago. It’s just a tradition that keeps going here,” added Lloyd Lindsay.
Thanks to their hard work all 18 holes have reopened and the club is ready to swing into a busy tourist season.
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