Edmonton had its wettest summer on record this year that saw basements, fields and golf courses flood like never before. Meadowview Golf and Country Club, located just west of St. Albert got a good soaking in June and July where at times parts of the course were under two to three feet of water after neighbouring Big Lake came over the berm. “For about half the year we’ve only been playing the front nine holes,” said Mattea Piseopo, the club’s general manager. “Probably we lost two thirds of the season.” The club lost its nursery, holes 13 and 14, and had to rip up seven fairways. Superintendent John Porter said the club lost about half of its regular revenue due to the flooding. “This water was roughly knee-deep for six weeks,” he said. “It started late June and just never went away.” They’ve begun resodding the course, with help from the Twin Willows course which announced its closure in June. “We knew that Twin Willows was closing, so we approached the owner,” said Piseopo. “He was gracious enough to give us all the sod we wanted for free.” “This wouldn’t have happened without them,” said Porter. Despite all of the struggles the club has faced, Piesopo is confident they’ll be fully open come spring. “It was overwhelming at the beginning, but we got going. We had lots of help … it was a team,” said Piesopo. “We’re going to be ready for next year.” But Porter says there is still work to be done, and they’ll be hoping the weather holds up so they have everything finished and prepared for the winter. “We’re just doing as much as we can, as fast as we can,” he said. “There are going to be a lot of areas that we will have to deal with later, but the primary area will be playable by the spring, we’re hoping.” With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nahreman Issa
