MILES CITY — The Miles City Town & Country Club will never look quite the same again.
On Saturday a violent storm ripped through and destroyed nearly 30 mature trees on the course, including three along the par-5 7th fairway that will forever change how the course plays.
"It was blowing the umbrellas onto our practice green, so I was trying to save our practice green. There were pieces of bark probably half the size of me flying around 60, 70 miles per hour," head golf pro Dylan Munroe told MTN Sports. "I've never been in a tornado, but it was probably the closest thing that I've seen to a tornado."
Early Sunday morning, an extensive cleanup effort began, as club president Jeff Bush said he was hard-pressed to find a 5x5 area without sizable tree limbs occupying the space, including the road in and out.
“People just took a hole and just started bunching. Bunching here, bunching there. Some guys got it with chainsaws and opened the road up," Bush said.
What Bush was potentially expecting to take a week was done in a matter of days, showing the resiliency of the members and the Miles City community.
“A lot of members out here just volunteering their time. All it took was a few sitting in there Saturday night saying, 'Hey. Let's meet out here at 8 and start,'" Bush said. "We have Bobcat here in Miles City. I'm telling you what, without them we could not have done any of this. And they're still out here. The equipment they're bringing out — they said, 'Guys, just get your golf course back.'
"We're less than 72 hours since this golf course was demolished. (We golfed) league (Tuesday) at 5:30. A couples league going out. I'd have bet a million dollars that wasn't going to happen."
Both Bush and Munroe mentioned that their annual member-guest tournament had wrapped up about a half hour prior, so thankfully no one was on the course during the storm.
It might look slightly different, but the Miles City Town & Country Club is back in action.
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