Buenaventura Golf Course update

** aside from updating the running text below, the main golf course web site has updates that may be more current than we keep below **

https://www.buenaventuragolf.com/

All,

I wanted to share with you all that a GoFundMe page has been created to help the employees at Buena. This is created by local Pro Dan Marvosh. It is called Employees of Buenaventura Golf Course. 

I had a number of our members asked me if they could help out and donate to the employees there. Here is our chance to help out our friends! 

The crew has done a great job in getting the mud off of 5 greens so far. The amount of mud and debris is insane. The picture attached is before and after of hole 9.  Lagacy Construction will be starting Tuesday in clearing the mud from the golf course which is needed to help with greens 15 and 18 which have at least 1 foot of mud on them. 

The buildings have had the mud almost completely removed as of yesterday and removal (and what is salvageable) done with the snack bar and pro shop. 

I have spoken with a couple courses about our club playing our monthly tournaments and as I have stated prior, it is not an easy task. We have to give a total number of players 10 days out and also pay for that amount the day of pay. We do not get the benefit of paying for only the players that play. This means that if 3 players don't play that day, we still have to pay the fees. The prices so far are a bit higher than we charge. So for this reason I am looking at not scheduling a tournament until March. If I can get something at a reasonable price, I will set it up. We may be playing on a Saturday as well as I am looking at any week, Saturday or Sunday.

More to come as I learn more. I have been working quite a bit on getting things handled with the City and Kemper as I have the golf course contracts with the City.

Thanks for your patience.

Bob Wilsher

Jan 29 - Update

 First an update on the golf course. As many of you may have heard by now. The 2nd and the green are no longer there! Hole 8 green is for the most part, completely gone. Hole 2 green, the right side and left middle to back is gone as well. On the good side, since last Monday, the crew started hand mowing the remaining 16 greens. The fairways should all be cleared of the mud and and the rough in some places have been started. We start with removing the tree and arundell debris this coming Tuesday. We have been removing the drywall in the buildings and evaluating them for repairs. We should know the results this week.  

Feb 1 - Update

Things are moving forward at Buena with pretty much all the fairways uncovered. 15 and 16 were the who's with 2 to 3 feet of mud on those fairways. CalFire was out yesterday and started cleaning up all the wood debris and remove 250 cubic yards of debris so far. That only took care of hole #9.

Below is the GoFundMe page. You can also send send me a check and we will make the deposit for you.  Make the check to VMGC 

Feb 20 - Update

We are going to be trying to get events at area courses until Buena is repaired. This will most likely be another 6 months. We have to get 2 greens rebuilt and that takes around 4 months. We still have to get a company to do the work. All the in-state companies are up in Northern California right now. We are talking with a couple companies from out of state right now. The remaining 16 greens are doing well and were punched and sanded this past week. All the fairways have been uncovered from the mud and we are working on getting the small amount of dirt off while we work on getting the mud/dirt removed from the course. The problem there is that the places we could take it too requires a soil test to see what if any contaminants might be in the dirt. 

** We will be playing individual flight events for the remainder of the year. **

Feb 24 - Update

Here is the latest update on Buenaventura GC. The greens were punched and sanded this past week and doing well. We have given Legacy Construction a go ahead to clear the remaining fine dirt and silt. This is being done by using basically sweepers to brush up the dirt and get down into the grass. The fairways that were done a couple weeks ago are greening up and looking pretty good.

I am working on a scope of work to have the mud/dirt that is piled up in the rough moved to alongside holes 12 & 13. We will be created mounds 30' off of the cart paths and compacting them and contouring them. We have come up with 12 mounds of various height and width (3 to 5'in height and 25 to 50' in width). 

We are moving into the next phase of work for the buildings as well. We are just waiting on the results from the air test for signs of mold after all the drywall was removed that was damaged. 

As you have already seen, we have Sterling Hills set for April 1st, a total of 92 players. The automatic sign-up list has been suspended for now until we get back to playing Buena. 

Right now, we have nothing for May, June and July. While where are some openings at some courses, it's for a small number of players. Or the starting time is too late. I am still working on this.

Our next schedule event is our club championship. I have booked this for the weekend of August 5th&6th. Saturday Aug 5th, we are playing Sterling Hills with our first time at 8:40 am for 92 players. Sunday Aug 6th, we are at Olivas Links starting at 7:00 am for 92 players. 

When I get more news on tournament dates, I will send them out to you all. 

April 4th - Update

As you might suspect, there has not been much happening at Buena with the rains we have been dealing with. Kemper's staff has been working hard at cleaning the bunkers on the course and have cleared about 80% of the bunkers. The greens were punched about 3 weeks ago and are looking good. We are busy trying to find a company to rebuild the two greens that were destroyed. But all the in state companies are busy in Northern California. Were are looking at 2 out of state companies at this time.   We are also dealing with the restorations of the buildings as well. 

I am still working on a place to play in June, but it is not easy. I will keep you all informed on what I am able to do.

May 21st - Update

We have sent out a request to have the dirt and debris removed from the course. We have a company that has written the scope of work to rebuild the 2 greens that were destroyed.  A request for bid to rebuild the greens will be written now and sent out soon.   We are looking at getting the dirt removed starting mid-June.  We had proposed to move the dirt to along holes 12 & 13.  FEMA will not allow us to do this as the area is in the 100-year flood plan.

The companies that do golf course rebuild are still up north working. We are hopeful that we will get someone to start the work by the end of June, first part of July. 

We are also working on getting new golf carts. A request for pricing went out last week. We should have that pricing come in within then next 2 weeks. 

We are working with the Insurance company regarding the rebuild of the inside of the buildings. 

June 30th - Update

All the irrigation controllers have been replaced and are working well now. This helps the staff out since they had to manually turn on the valves to water. The greens are in excellent condition and the fairways are looking good. Have a few spots to resod, but all in all, they are good. The dirt and debris removal should begin here in the next couple days. The scope of work to rebuild the 2 greens will be going out soon. Dealing with FEMA has been interesting. We have to make sure all the paperwork that they require is done correct in order to get funding. 

We have the bids back to get new golf carts for both courses and are going into the process of picking the company. 

July 7th - Update

Dirt and debris removal started this past Friday and is progressing well. The fairways are in great shape as well as the greens. Pictures coming soon of how things are progressing. 

July 15th - Update

 The dirt and debris are close to being finished. We still do not have an opening date yet. The Golf course consultant has been out and come up with a plan to rebuild the greens and will be back out to inspect and come up with the plan to repair the drainage system and lakes too.  

April 9th 2024 - Ventura City Council Meeting

For golf course updates, you can also check https://www.buenaventuragolf.com/