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Victoria’s recent spell of extreme weather including heavy rainfall and flooding in the eastern region of the State has had an adverse effect on a number of golf courses. One such club to be badly affected was Tambo Valley Golf Club, situated between Omeo and Swift’s Creek in Victoria’s High Country. Tambo Valley Committee member, Brett Wyllie kindly forwarded the following about the club’s new challenge as a result of last week’s flood damage:
A nine-hole, volunteer run club, Tambo Valley has a small, but dedicated, group of members who work hard to maintain this course that is regularly referred to as ‘little Augusta’. Among the towering pine trees is the Junction Creek that meanders through the course. Generally this is a small creek that adds to the picturesque setting but as we all know, water courses can quickly become a raging torrent if the rain falls in the right catchments.
Unfortunately this was the case last week when East Gippsland was subjected to heavy rain. The resultant flooding of the Junction Creek swept away two bridges used to traverse the creek during play and to severely undermine the only access bridge.
As with most volunteer run clubs that are low on resources but high on community spirit an impromptu working bee was assembled on the weekend and access to the clubhouse was quickly restored. The repair of the bridges to the 2ndtee and 7thgreen will require significant heavy machinery to have them replaced into their original position and the club is working on having that happen. Other damage was to water lines, heavy erosion to creek banks and other debris strewn across some fairways. The club is thankful that the damage caused is not as bad as previous floods and is working to ensure flood mitigation is undertaken to lessen future events.
The course is currently closed for playing with only three holes accessible but we are hopeful full access will be restored within the next two weeks albeit with some areas that will require ongoing rehabilitation.
Featured last year in the Golf Victoria magazine, all visiting golfers to East Gippsland are encouraged to take the time to play Tambo Valley and other clubs in the District to provide support as they recover from nature’s latest setback.