By Katy Savage
CASTLETON—The Bomoseen Golf Club is open despite losing all of its equipment in a fire Aug. 8.
“Basically, we lost everything we needed to run the golf course,” said General Manager Jim Bassett.
Three lawn mowers, weed trimmers, tools and golf carts that were kept inside a maintenance building are gone, said Bassett.
A pump used to irrigate the golf course was also lost, along with fertilizer and pesticides and “the little things,” said Bassett. “Everything we use to maintain the condition of the golf course.”
Bassett estimated the equipment loss is $100,000.
“By the time fire department got the call after 12:30 a.m., it was pretty well gone,” Bassett said.
Crews from Castleton Fire, Poultney Fire Department, Fair Haven Fire Department, and Hubbardton Vermont Fire Department responded to the scene.
It’s unclear what caused the fire. Bassett believes it was struck by lightning.
The Bomoseen Golf Course, a 9-hole golf course in Castleton, has about 90 members this year.
The maintenance building was formerly a motel that was part of a destination resort back in the 1940s and into the 1970s, said Bassett.
The pump used to irrigate the course is being run with a generator while neighboring golf courses, including Rutland Country Club and Neshobe Golf Club, have donated equipment to keep the Bomoseen Golf Club open.
“Community golf courses kind of work together,” Bassett said.
Major distributors of golf course equipment have also lent equipment for the next month and devoted members have also offered their own equipment.
Bassett is working with insurance to get estimates to replace the equipment and the maintenance building, which will be taken down and replaced with a new structure.
In the meantime, Bassett is storing lent equipment under tarps.
“That’s not going to work in the winter,” he said.
Bassett said the weather has cooperated for playing conditions. The pro shop and the The Palms at Prospect Bay restaurant remain open. The course is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekends.
Photo submitted
A maintenance building was destroyed in a fire at the Bomoseen Golf Course, Aug. 8.
