Painted Woods opens for 30th year of business
By Danielle Abbott
It was a long winter for Washburn’s Painted Woods Golf Course. Water flowed over the greens, submerging areas in feet of water and mud. Several weeks ago, after a large ice dam reportedly broke, flooding the course with unimaginable amounts of water overnight, course employees were at a loss for words when it came to an opening date. The last time that the course flooded to these depths was in 1995, according to Carol Leidholm. Last year the course was open for golfers within the first week of April. "This is a very late opening," Leidholm said. Though it is a bit late, the old saying stands strong, better late than never. There are some changes in store this year for members of the Painted Woods Golf Course, and everyone can experience and enjoy those changes starting on April 29 when the course officially opens, weather permitting. Getting to this opening date took a lot of planning and hard work. For the past several weeks, volunteers have been making their way to the course. "We have had a lot of volunteers out there helping shovel the mud," Leidholm said, "In some places the mud was over three feet deep so we had a lot of very good volunteers." After the water subsided, the mud was the biggest problem for the course. Specifically, Leidholm said that the areas near the fourth tee box and the fifth green saw the most mud. For the opening this week, there will be a temporary green on number five.
