Nearly seven months after flooding rains from Tropical Storm Harvey washed out bridges and left parts of Idylwild Golf Club under 12 to 14 feet of water, the back nine of the battered course between Beaumont and Sour Lake is set for a Saturday re-opening.

As for the front nine, that is still very much up in the air. All the major bridge damage and the heaviest flooding occured there. Bids are currently being taken on new bridges, then co-owners Ray Moore and Ronnie Pflieder will decide on the next move.

According to Pflieder, the absolute best-case scenario to have all 18 holes open is late September or October. But it is possible the front won’t re-open until the early part of 2019.

For now, Pfleider is relieved that golf is finally going to again be played at Idylwild. The target date, once he and Moore decided in November that they would not close the course, was Feb 1. But, as golfers in the area know all too well, the weather has not been conducive to anything golf related.

“It has been tough and pretty discouraging at times,” Pfleider said. “All the cold in January and the rain in February made things really difficult to work on the golf course. It was like we would take one step forward and two steps back.

“We were not going to open until we felt the course was in pretty good shape, and we have reached that point. The greens are better than average. The tee boxes and fairways are in good condition. The only thing we have not
gotten to is the sand traps. We had to order new sand and plan to get to the traps in the next few days.”

Idylwild’s damage was not limited to the golf course. Losses included a new clubhouse that had opened not long before Harvey hit, as well as all the maintenance equipment and golf carts. In addition, the homes of Moore and
Pfleider adjacent to the first hole were badly flooded and are still not ready to be occupied.

Though the clubhouse is up and running, Pfleider says he won’t be able to move back into his home until April. Moore opted to relocate to Beaumont. Enough maintenance equipment has been replaced to take care of nine holes. For the time being, golf carts are being leased.

When the back nine opens for play Saturday morning, weekend fees for 18 holes with cart will be $36. The number drops to $26 during the week. Tee times are not required. The phone number in the golf shop is 753-2521. But it won’t be operable until Friday.

CHIP SHOTS

Bim Morrow of Orange is the latest to add his name to the 2018 hole-in-one list at Babe Zaharias.

Morrow scored his third ace by sinking a 6-iron from 150-yards on the 12th hole. The shot was witnessed by Craig Geoffroy, Rusty Hicks and Charles Leard . . .

Lamar’s Eason Wang also authored a hole-in-one last week, and he did it in a college tournament. Wang aced the 166-yard seventh at Laredo Country Club with a 7-iron in the opening round of the Border Olympics.

Wang would go on to finish with a 54-hole total of 219 that left him 49th in a 97-player field. Cody Banach led the way for Lamar, closing with a two-under-par 70 that put him at 215 and tied for 17th.

As a team, LU placed 16th out of 17 teams with a total score of 874. Campbell College edged Arkansas State by two strokes with an 843 to take the team title. Other Cardinal scores were a 221 by Louis Bemberg (T61) and a 222 by Juho Kurikka (T66).

Port Neches-Groves won the Hamshire-Fannett Invitational at Babe Zaharias but had to share the spotlight with Little Cypress-Mauriceville freshman Jack Burke. He shot a 66 to grab medalist honors by two strokes over Timothy Feemster of PNG.

The Indians carded a 300 to win the team title by 12 strokes over Nederland. In addition to Feemster’s 68, the Indians got a 74 from Chase Selman, a 77 from Trey Elmore and an 81 from Victor Leponte.

Brendan Marley paced Nederland with a 70. Daniel Cormier added a 71, Tyler Wallie shot 85 Jadon Bell finished at 86 …

Ben Sherrod teamed with Gary Geoffroy for a 12-under-par 60 to win First Flight in the Nederland Heritage Festival two-person scramble Saturday at Babe Zaharias. Tied for second at 62 was the pairing of Baylor star Braden Bailey-Brandon Soileau and the team of Jared Brown-Alex Theis.

The duo of Brian Vincent-Chris Guidry took Second Flight with a 66, finishing three shots clear of Scott Bryant-J.P. Ray. In Third Flight, Shane Trahan-Chris Oliver finished on top with a 68. Tracy Williams-Taylor Williams finished two back with a 70.

David Hoelzer-Bobby Stringer claimed Fourth Flight with a 74. They finished three shots clear of Darren Meaux-Chuck Floyd …

The Super Saturday Senior 2-ball at Zaharias saw a two-way tie on the front at minus-2 between the team of Randy Monk, James Shipley, Troy Touchet and Cole Lee and the foursome of Cricket Owen, Morrow, Gary Fontenot and Ronnie Hicks. On the back, the trio of Adam Noel, Cap Hollier and Ed Holley won with minus-2 …

In the Friday Senior 2-ball at Zaharias, the team of Russ Gloede, Harry Green, Dan Chandler and Pete Reobroi won the front with minus-3. The back ended in a two-way tie at minus 1 between the team of Noel, Hollier, Fontenot and Dan Flood and the foursome of Geoffroy, Morrow, Hicks and Leard …

The Wednesday DogFight at Zaharias was played in a two-man, 9/9 format of best ball and scramble. First Flight ended in a tie at 72 between Rick Pritchett-Hollier and Gloede-Ron LaSalle. In Second Flight, Harrell Guidry-Dillard Darbonne shot 73 to finish one stroke clear of Larry Foster-Lee Bertrand and Jeff Rinehart-Larry Reece. Third Flight saw a tie at 80 between Wes McGuire-Art Miller and Flood-Paul Duplantis.

Closest to the pin winners were Noel (No. 2), Hollier (No. 7), Holley (No. 12) and Benoit (No. 15) …

The fivesome of Johnny Pace, Charles Cooksey, R.J. Simon, Tommy Prejean and Blaine Girouard won the front with minus 1 in the Wednesday Cooksey 2 ball at Zaharias. On the back, there was a tie at minus 6 between the team of Jim Huebel, Mike Lansford, Paul Young, Walter Colvin and Joe Davis and the foursome of Joe Sublet, David Girouard, Wadsworth Thompson and Craig Fontenot.

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