This municipal golf course went from grand opening to underwater in 48 hours

YORKTOWN, N.Y. – The overwhelming Lower Hudson Valley floods brought tragedy and destruction, but for plain old frustration look to this town.

On July 8, golfers, families and officials reveled at the grand opening of a town-owned, par-3 golf course with a DJ and ribbon-cutting. Returning a course to the property had been eyed for more than a decade.

By evening of July 9, the course was submerged in the deluge.

“The golf course was completely flooded with water,” Town Supervisor Tom Diana said.

The 9-hole Links at Valley Fields course in the Shrub Oak hamlet, in the town’s north end, shut down that Monday. Diana said on Tuesday that a good amount of water had receded from the course.

On Thursday, the course reopened.

The clubhouse was spared flooding or damage. But the pro shop did get some flooding and various equipment such as golf carts and grounds-keeping equipment were affected.

Chris Munoz, a partner in the team that operates the facility, said on Tuesday that a lot of manpower was working at the site, “trying to save everything as much as possible.” He said the crew was doing everything to clear out the water. He expressed hope the course could open by the weekend, which it did.

“Even if we open, still we’re still going to have repairs going on, but we’d like to get the public back on our course as soon as possible,” Munoz said.

A September 2018 article on the United States Golf Association website said one key is to get excessive water out, quickly.

“When submersed for long periods, grass is deprived of oxygen and begins to die,” the article said, adding that the situations can be worse if it’s salt water – not the situation in well-inland Yorktown. “Beyond the damage caused by floodwater, deposits of silt, rock and debris can prevent routine maintenance and can take weeks or even months to clear.”

Yorktown and a host of other localities in Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, and Orange counties, as well as their residents, may well apply for disaster relief to help offset some of the repair costs. The governor declared states of emergency in those counties, a step toward seeking Federal Emergency Management Agency help or reimbursement. Towns and residents must assess what’s damaged and its value. For towns, experts need to assess structural integrity of things such as bridges and roads.

Diana said the town has a number of things along those lines to consider seeking assistance for, such as badly-damaged culverts.

Financial costs the flooding may have foisted on the golf course weren’t known. Munoz said “we really don’t know at this point” and “we’re just assessing at this point as well.”

On July 8, roughly 24 hours before record rains fell in some places, Diana used a giant pair of scissors to cut the red ribbon at the grand opening. Adults and children stood to either side as he proclaimed, “open for business.”

“We are so excited that, after so many years, this group has opened this place in 14 weeks,” Diana said, asking for a round of applause. “Fourteen weeks, after waiting more than 10 years, to have this jewel in the town of Yorktown today.”

The golf course, off Taconic State Parkway and bordered by Route 6 and Lee Boulevard, has a restaurant/bar, an outside dining area with a pergola, and provides golf carts for mobility-impaired people. Part-way through the course, there’s a spot to get cold drinks and there’s a fire pit. Plans are for people to book tee times online. It’s nine holes for $40. People can also take golf lessons, with the website showing a half-hour session for $75, an hour for $100, and a package of five half-hour lessons for $350.

Under a five-year agreement, Yorktown Golf Group, which will operate the facility, will pay yearly to the town, starting at $78,000 and rising annually.

“It’s really a beautiful course; these guys did a wonderful job,” Diana said, adding that it’s perhaps one of only two such public 9-hole courses in Westchester.

But creating the golf course spanned years, on and off. And a legal battle launched last year over it continues in state court.

In 2014, the town and RC Recreation Development, a limited liability company, notched an agreement. RC Recreation Development would bring the course to life and operate it, the restaurant and clubhouse for 10 years, then turn it over to the town. The company’s operating license was extended to 2028.

But after what town officials asserted were delays in getting the project closer to a finish line, the Town Board last year voted to end the agreement. Later that year, the board asked for proposals from others and selected Yorktown Golf Group.

RC Recreation Development last year sued several town officials. RC Recreation Development has also filed a suit naming as defendants the company operating the course and its partners.

RC has said it put more than $8 million into development including renovating greens and code upgrades, the Journal News reported. RC has said delays were due to the pandemic, supply-chain issues and bug infestations.

On June 15, a state judge dismissed seven of the suit’s claims. The suit is moving forward on the remaining claims.

Michael McKinney covers growth and development for The Journal News/lohud.com and the USA Today Network.