For the past several years the Wakaw Lake Golf Course has been dealing with flooding on holes two and seven, but the issues have since been rectified with great success.
Spring runoff from the hills overlooking the Northeast Saskatchewan resort community’s course flowed through the two holes as well as into the campground. Superintendent Dean Hildebrandt designed a plan to work with the water and use it to the course’s advantage. Last year the staff constructed a “water feature” on two, essentially a holding pond that fixed the flooding and developed the hole into a scenic, challenging par-4. Hildebrandt said the outcome of the work has been exceptional.
“We wouldn’t be able to have carts out there for a day or two and we had puddles of water as well,” he said. “Our number two was 280-290 yards and it was pretty easy, so we thought let’s put a water feature that can catch the runoff and make it a better hole.”
Since the construction of the system, that includes an underground drainage pipe plus an overflow pipe when the pond fills in the early season or after significant rainfalls. Hildebrandt said the improvements have been well received by both members and the public.
“They love it. We had a tournament on the weekend and I played with a guy who used to live here 20 years ago and hadn’t played here for about 15 years, he couldn’t believe how nice it is. That’s the type of comments we’re getting from everybody,” he said.
Hildebrandt said the staff is constantly trying to improve the nine-hole, grass green course. Work to expand the white block tee boxes is a future project as well as replacing some aging trees along the number nine green with a bunker. He said with over 220 members, 700 cabins and the campground traffic at the lake the course continues to do well allowing them to consistently upgrade the course.
“The place is doing well financially so it allows us to do stuff every year when we want to do stuff like that. It’s really good,” he said.