By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Doug Hawley and his staff couldn’t help but get a little emotional as the final shots were struck Easter Monday at Redwoods Golf Course. 

The Langley course is being forced to close for a few months due to construction of the TransCanada pipeline. Hawley, Redwoods’ managing director, knows the course he has run for the past 28 years will emerge better than ever.

But he acknowledges it’s going to be tough to watch some of the fairways get ripped up for the pipeline project.

“You spend 30 years making fairways and growing grass and it just gets completely destroyed,” Hawley says. “It’s like watching a natural disaster happening. It’s kind of heart-wrenching, but once the restoration work is done it will be better than it was. . .When we re-open it will be in the best shape it’s ever been in the past 28 years.”

Hawley doesn’t know exactly when the course will re-open. He’s hoping to be back up and running Sept. 1. “Have you ever dealt with the government,” he says with a laugh. 

The pipeline will run through holes 9, 10, 11, 13, 15 and across No. 5. Fairways will be completely re-sodded once the pipeline work is done. None of Redwoods’ greens are being affected. 

Hawley said course superintendent Peter Szarka and his crew will take the opportunity to do some other renovation work while the course is closed. “We are going to rebuild some tee decks and work on some drainage in some of our wetter areas,” Hawley says.

Redwoods is the second Fraser Valley course to be impacted by the pipeline. Ledgeview in Abbotsford has had to shorten and re-route its course to remain open during pipeline construction. That work is expected to be completed by the end of April. Redwoods is keeping its driving range and clubhouse banquet operations open during pipeline construction.