Springfield Country Club takes ‘direct hit’ from tornado

An EF-1 tornado was confirmed just north of Springfield after a storm ripped through the area on the evening of June 8.

That storm took down nearly 100 trees at a local country club. 

Staff and volunteers got to work clearing up the golf course at Springfield Country Club.

The golf course superintendent, Chad Dorrell said he saw damage like it on his course.

“Shocked obviously,” Dorell said. “You always see the forecast where tornado watches are up. The reality is it’s few and far between when we encounter anything like this.”

Dorrell was on the go Thursday morning, surveying the damage and the cleanup efforts.

“Yeah, that’s a group of white pines,” he said. “We lost all 10 of them.”

He received multiple offers to help, and not just from the local residents.

“I had guys reaching out last night on Twitter just to say ‘what can we do to help?’” Dorrell said. “They’re in southern Kentucky, willing to drive up and help us when needed. So the support is what makes this industry so much fun.”

It included golf superintendents from other courses across the state, like Kyle Frederick, who came all the way from north of Columbus to help.

“Anybody in the golf course industry would help each other out even if they didn’t know the person,” Frederick said. “But having known Chad for such a long time. My first instinct was definitely to do what we could to help him out.”

For Dorrell, while the damage is overwhelming, he’s glad to know the greens, tee boxes, irrigation system, and most importantly, his members and staff are all safe and unharmed.

“In the end, this is all just tree work,” Dorrell said. “No one was hurt, and no structures were damaged up at the clubhouse or at my facility. It could have been much worse, so I’m feeling kind of fortunate right now.”

 The cleanup is ongoing, but it could take upwards of two weeks to get everything looking back to normal. But thanks to the volunteers, that will happen a lot sooner than expected.

Update:

I want to thank everyone for their support last week to the Springfield CC and my team. Tons of texts, DM’s and phone calls, all offering advice from their experiences and words of encouragement. It meant a lot to me. I know I didn’t respond to everyone, but know it’s appreciated

Chad Dorrell @sccturfgrass Golf Course Superintendent at Springfield Country Club.