As a superintendent, I had been through my share of hurricanes in Southeast Florida. I was on the far northern limits when Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida in 1992. I was directly impacted by Hurricanes Frances and Jean in 2004, and Wilma in 2005. With that being said, I thought I was prepared for what I would see when I recently planned a visit to Panama Country Club in Lynn Haven, Fla. I quickly realized as I traveled into the area that I was wrong. Even with the extent of the damage I saw in the hurricanes I mentioned, it paled in comparison to the damage wrought upon this community by Hurricane Michael.

I entered Lynn Haven 4 weeks after Hurricane Michael made landfall in Florida’s Panhandle. The amount of debris lining the streets from homes and businesses was immense. The shells of these home and businesses that were left standing behind the mountains of debris were mostly in tatters. It was odd that every so often I would come across a house that was completely untouched. The visuals were surreal.

As I worked my way toward what was left of the golf course maintenance building, I attempted to capture the extent of the damage through photographs. As I reviewed my pictures later, I realized they failed to reveal the extent of the damage that had occurred. (Perhaps, if I had NW Regional Representative, Dave Phipps taking the photos, I could have had a more complete sense of the destruction!!)

When I finally caught up with course superintendent, Patrick O’Brien, a 9-year GCSAA member, I was greeted by a friendly smile and a sense of calm in his demeanor. Patrick has spent the last four weeks developing an extensive plan to resurrect the historic Donald Ross course and admitted that he has sort of grown numb to the surrounding landscape. We carefully traversed the golf course as he outlined his plan to remove the lumber from the course. I use the term lumber because the job ahead is beyond the ability of typical golf course tree companies, so Patrick has contracted with a lumber company to remove the trees from the course. I would estimate that less than 10 percent of what were tree lined fairways remain standing. The trees that are still standing are severely damaged and will most likely need to be removed as well.

What struck me most in my time with Patrick, is that he is a glass-half-full type of person. He is looking at this event as an opportunity to start fresh with a blank canvas. There is no sense that the task at hand is too great to overcome. I was impressed with how positive Patrick remains and how determined he is to take the course to the next level when they eventually get past the devastation from the storm. Based on my interaction with him, I would say that he is precisely the right man for the job. If I were a betting man, I would go all in on the fact that Patrick will be triumphant in his efforts. I plan on returning to Panama Country Club, and I will not be surprised when Patrick through grit and determination along with his staff’s dedicated work successfully brings back Panama Country Club from the edge of disaster. I am rooting for him and wish all the people impacted by Hurricane Michael the best in their attempts to restore some sense of normalcy in their lives!