Why the June 30 rainstorm settled almost exclusively on the Fairlawn Golf Course is a puzzle.

Bill Kennedy, Golf Columnist

More than 30 trees went down at Fairlawn, some on the fairways, some alongside the fairways. Fairlawn was hit so hard that the Poland course was forced to be closed that afternoon. Then, it took all day July 1 to clear the course of trees and limbs, which enabled Fairlawn to reopen on July 2.

That storm created other problems.

A tree alongside of the Fairlawn clubhouse went down, falling across Empire Road, making it impossible to drive north from the golf course.

Also, there was a 14-hour power outage, which forced Fairlawn’s restaurant manager, Kolby Banker, to move all perishable food into refrigerators powered by a generator. They had been in another part of the clubhouse.

“We were fortunate to be able to keep the food fresh,” Banker said.

Ben Goodall, Fairlawn’s director of golf, a 35-year resident of Maine, said: “This was insane and unexpected.”

Surprisingly, damage to other courses was minimal.

At Martindale, a few trees and branches went down, but the course did not need to close. Poland Spring reported no problems related to the storm. Both of those courses are approximately 2 miles from Fairlawn, meaning the storm had a very narrow path.

Brian Bickford, executive director of MaineGolf, said this storm and damage was not unprecedented. He was referring to a 1990s “microburst” which knocked down 1,200 trees at Valhalla.

“They did amazing work at Valhalla,” Bickford said. “They were closed only a week.”

All of this is proof of the resilient work done by people who work on Maine golf courses. Kudos to them.

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The men’s Maine Amateur is being held July 9 at Purpoodock, which is why there are no MaineGolf men’s playdays scheduled until July 19.

The women’s playday is July 9 at Sunday River and Turner Highlands. A Central Maine Junior Open will be July 8 at Waterville.

Bill Kennedy, a retired New Jersey golf writer and editor now residing on Thompson Lake in Otisfield, is in his 12th season as Sun Journal golf columnist.