Camperdown Golf Club competition has been put on hold after the picturesque course suffered extensive damage in the weekend’s fires.
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The course will be closed indefinitely with burnt out trees and burns covering the seventh, eighth and ninth holes.
“How long will it take to reopen? How long is a piece of string?,” Club captain Rick Bailey said.
“At the moment we need to just sit back and let the authorities get done what they need to get done.”
Mr Bailey said the St Patrick’s Day fires tore through trees between the two lakes surrounding the course.
“It started in the direction of Lake Gnotuk, came round to the south then diverted, got into trees on the fairway, blew uphill and then around Lake Bullen Merri,” he said.
Grounds surrounding the course were covered in debris and fences were destroyed.
CFA and DELWP authorities were continuing to identify dangerous trees on Thursday.
Upcoming competitions have been redirected to neighbouring clubs.
Mr Bailey said Saturday was the first time in club history a competition was cancelled due to a total fire ban.
“And ironically last year’s event was cancelled because the ground was too wet,” he said.
Both Mr Bailey and greenskeeper Darren Fox said golf could not compete with nature.
“Safety is our priority right now,” Mr Fox said.
“We’ll lose a few weeks of golf but keeping the public safe is our main priority.
“Some of these trees are still very hot on the inside and when the layers are pulled off and air gets in it, they could still flare up again.”
While rain would help in the short-term, Mr Fox said greens could take years to return to pristine condition.
“The fires were followed by a few good drops but the seventh, eighth and ninth greens and 10th tee copped a fair bit of heat.
“There are even leopard spots where hot coals have bounced across the lawn.”
On Thursday Mr Fox was mowing what was left of the grass.
“They’re scorched but they’ll come back,” he said.
“Mind you it depends on what Mother Nature serves up next I guess.”