COMSTOCK PARK, Mich– After their clubhouse went up in flames Wednesday night, owners at the Alpine Golf Course didn’t know when they would be able to open for business. Although the fire is still under investigation, fire crews tell Fox17 it looks like there may have been some electrical cords near the building’s cooler.
Even though everything in the clubhouse was destroyed, owners weren’t ready to give up. With the support of their community they still kicked off their 2013 season Saturday, just two days after they originally planned.
Clubhouse or not, they found ways to make it work and did business out of the good ole’ “starter shack” Saturday.
Owner Jerry Kamis says “we felt if we just sit back and do nothing then were not doing them a favor either so as make shift as it is there`s going to be golf at Alpine and its going to start today.”
All Kamis could do Wednesday was stand back and watch his clubhouse burn. In fact, they were just wrapping up a major remodel and planning to unveil the new look in just ten days.
Kamis says eventually the club house will either be demolished and rebuilt or re-renovated again and in the meantime, they’ll run the clubhouse out of modular units which are coming in a few days.
“It’s like a second home to a lot of people, we employ a lot of people we have a lot of seniors that volunteer here, so if we weren’t here there’s a missing element for a lot of people in the area, It’s a community effort, its a family operation so were back for them and i think they’re here for us.”
Dave Passmore who has been golfing there for more than 20 years and showed up Saturday despite the cold and windy weather said he will continue to support them as much as he can.
“We actually have our meeting for our league this coming Monday so we were a little bit concerned as to what was going to transpire after that but we`ve been re-assured that the golf course will run as usual and we’ll get through this.”
Kamis says “it’s think it’s going to be a better place, you know things happen for a reason and were going to put it back together.”
