BIGFORK — A new clubhouse under construction at a popular Jack Nicklaus-designed Golf Course in Bigfork is making progress after the old clubhouse was lost to a devastating fire in February of 2020.
“The west wing will have the golf shop, the locker rooms, the administrative offices, the east wing will be the hospitality side with the bar, the grill, dining room and kitchen,” Eagle Bend Golf Club Director of Golf Mike Wynne tells MTN News.
Wynne says the exact cause of the fire still unknown, "it was unimaginable to think what had happened, everything that was lost and the monumental job we had to get the golf course open by the first of April."
He said his team acted quickly to come up with a plan for the beginning of golf season bringing in temporary tents to act as a clubhouse which worked perfectly alongside COVID-19 restrictions in place.
“Yeah, we could roll the windows and the doors open and everyone was social distanced outside, yeah it was perfect,” said Wynne.
Wynne said the new clubhouse will be a single-story building with the foundation and construction of the walls already finished.
“All the roof trusses in by the end of the month, they should all be installed so we should have the shape of the building kind of taking place,” said Wynne.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Wynne said Eagle Bend has never been busier with roughly 400 members signed up for this year’s season, an all-time high.
“It’s a combination of the effects of COVID, people wanting to move to the valley, the valley has never been busier, and our golf membership sales have never been busier,” said Wynne.
Construction of the new clubhouse is expected to be finished by Thanksgiving. Swank Enterprises out of Kalispell are in charge of constructing the new clubhouse.
