Black Mountain Golf Course in North Carolina partially reopens after Helene damages
BLACK MOUNTAIN – Following a nearly nine-month closure due to damages from Tropical Storm Helene, the Black Mountain Golf Course has reopened the back nine holes.
About a dozen people came out to support the golf course at a June 23 ribbon cutting, marking the course's partial reopening. The back nine holes were available for everyone to play starting June 24.
The Black Mountain Golf Course is owned and maintained by the town. At a May 15 special call meeting, Town Manager Josh Harrold gave an update, saying 'more money' has been spent on the golf course since Helene than anything else in the town other than critical infrastructure.
According to a June 24 news release posted to the town website, Black Mountain "has invested more than $135,000 in repairing the golf course." These repairs include getting the back nine holes open, culvert and cart path repairs, irrigation system restoration and pro shop renovations.
The release said repairs to the front nine holes, golf cart barn and cart paths and bridges will take place "in a few months" as funds become available.
At the May 12 regular session meeting, nine residents spoke in favor of opening the golf course during the public comment period. Some spoke of not wanting the golf course to be closed, something Harrold said 'has never been discussed or considered' at the May 15 meeting.
According to Harrold, the FEMA damage inventory estimate for the golf course and operations is $2 million.
According to a document provided to Black Mountain News by Harrold, the golf course made nearly $182,000 in revenue in 2024. Black Mountain Golf Course Manager Brent Miller said golf has increased in popularity since COVID and net profit in a "good year" is between $150,000 and $200,000.
At the June 23 ribbon cutting, Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cheryl Hyde said the chamber is 'excited' to have the golf course back open.
Including staff, Miller said the golf course spends between $450,000 and $500,000 on maintenance each year.
Harrold said the town is continuing to work on getting the front nine holes open and that it will 'take some time.'
'I hate that it's taken this long to get the back nine open,' Harrold said. 'But we are finally here and ready.'
Harrold said he wanted to thank Miller and Jerry Brigman, golf course superintendent, for the work they have put in getting the back nine holes open.
'They're they rockstars here,' Harrold said. 'They've busted their butts to get this course open, and they've done a hell of a job.'
Brigman told Black Mountain News the golf course had 35 trees come down across the property during Helene.
Helene brought historic flooding across Western North Carolina, killing more than 100 people across the state and causing nearly $60 billion in damages.
Much of the golf course equipment flooded from rain and water from the Tomahawk branch of the Swannanoa River and became unusable, leaving the town searching for options.
'We lost our shop, all of our equipment,' Brigman said. 'We went seven months without being able to mow anything, maintain anything. We didn't have irrigation for almost eight months.'
The June 24 news release said the maintenance building will need to be demolished and relocated to be in compliance with FEMA standards, and the work will be reimbursable by the agency.
Once the town leased equipment at the end of April, Brigman said the team was able to start mowing to playable heights.
He said he wants to 'thank everybody' for being patient as the town works to get the golf course reopened.
'We still got a lot of work ahead of us,' Brigman said. 'But we're buckling down and we're doing all we can do to try to get this back to 100%.'
Miller told Black Mountain News having the back nine holes reopen is a 'relief.'
'We've needed to get going in the right direction for a long time,' Miller said. 'We've been working towards it, but this actually feels like the culmination of that.'
He said the Black Mountain Golf Course would usually see around 150 golfers each day, and he expects to see half that number with only half the course being open. Annually, Miller said there are between 30,000 and 33,000 rounds played.
As for what is next for the golf course, Miller said he wants to continue working to get the front nine holes reopened.
'Doing what we can within the funds and the means that we have to get it done as quick as possible,' Miller said. 'And also have a product that people want to come back and play on this golf course. We've always kept it in relatively good shape for what we had to work with and we don't want to put out a subpar product.'
Karrigan Monk is the Swannanoa Valley communities reporter for Black Mountain News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kmonk@blackmountainnews.com.
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