Buena Vista Golf Course Challenges

TAFT, Calif. (KERO) — Buena Vista Golf Course is overcoming many challenges to stay open, but it recently faced another setback after a fire in a maintenance yard.

• A fire in the maintenance yard of the Buena Vista Golf Course destroyed nearly a dozen pieces of their equipment.
• The golf course owner says the damage was estimated at hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• The golf course crew is working hard to recover and repair other vehicles as best they can.

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

The Buena Vista Golf Course has faced several challenges to stay open, and a few days ago a new one erupted. A fire in the maintenance yard destroyed nearly a dozen pieces of their equipment.

“We went out and by that time the site was already submerged and had taken hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment,” Sorensen said.

I visited Buena Vista Golf Course to meet Chad Sorensen, the owner and manager. While the course itself appeared immaculate with golfers spread across the green grass, the maintenance yard was filled with charred debris. Chad told me he thought the fire started from one of the engines.

The KCFD has not yet determined the exact cause. He also mentioned that the fire was so intense that what was once a radiator was now just a mass of aluminum.

“It was a fairway unit that no longer exists, and then I have three large rough units that fell, I have three utility vehicles, two trailers behind the rough units that fell, right behind you it There’s a greens mower that’s half melted,” Chad explains.

Chad said the burned units were once used daily, but now he and the course crew are working hard to salvage whatever they can and find replacements.

“All the tires are burned, all the pipes are almost blown, the engines are blown,” Chad continues.

However, he said he was grateful the fire did not reach buildings, people or the golf course itself.

“Things are moving along and if we can get some relief from the county we will, if we can have a force majeure where we just have one rainstorm here every day that would be great too,” Chad said.

For now, they will continue to swing, while replacing what was lost.

Since the necessary supplies are not available in the state, officials tell me it will take about 2 years to recover and acquire new equipment.

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