Amazing Volunteers Clear Storm Chaos at Missoula Golf Course

A week after hurricane-force winds destroyed Missoula's public golf course, the game is back at Larchmont.

And it was an army of caring volunteers that made it possible.

It's an astonishing comeback for the course, where an estimated 140 trees and a mountain of debris just destroyed the facility in the severe thunderstorm last Wednesday.

RELATED: Debris Volunteers Are Available Through Sunday in Missoula

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Where do you start?

Larchmont, located between South Reserve and Fort Missoula, was in the bull's eye for the storm, which completely flattened trees of all sizes on the interior and around the property's perimeter. In some cases, trees were ripped out by the roots.

General Manager Rickie Spurgeon wasn't sure where to begin.

"You know, for a while, it was still very dangerous out there," Spurgeon told me. "We had a lot of trees leaning on other trees and limbs, big limbs up in trees that hadn't fallen down yet."

The call for help

Friday, golf pros, regular players, and concerned community members answered the call to pitch in. And they kept coming.

"Seemed like every day we had more and more people out here. It was fantastic."

Saturday, Larchmont was able to open the front 9.

"They have no idea how much help they gave us," Spurgeon said. "We're beyond grateful for it. The volunteer was just volunteer work was just fantastic."

A "super big thank you" 

Spurgeon said all the extra help was huge for the course and its existing staff, which would have never been able to deal with the mess so quickly. They're hoping to re-open the entire course by Thursday afternoon. It made a huge difference from last Thursday.

"Absolutely. It sure does. I mean, we came in the first day and just wanted to throw up or cry and maybe do a little of both. But then it just turns into, you know, let's just clean it up and put a smile on our face and move forward, and that's all we can do."