Gisborne Golf Club is beginning to rebuild after losing its clubhouse to an electrical fire in April.
GGC general manager Brett Campbell said attention had now turned rebuilding and players had already returned to the course.
“We have been working hard to arrange temporary portable buildings for the pro shop and office team, which we’ve managed to get up and running,” Brett said.
“We are still facing power and internet issues across the site, but we’re working with local suppliers to make these and other club functions operational.”
Soon after the blaze, Isuzu Power Solutions offered a remote power source in the form of a 37 kVA enclosed generator set to help power the temporary setup.
The generator helped get members back onto the course and playing golf just 48 hours after the fire took place.
Spearheading the effort was keen golfer and Isuzu Australia’s chief of sales and aftersales, Ben Lasry, who lives close by the golf club and was awoken by the sirens of responding fire crews.
“We heard the sirens and saw the smoke that night and I knew straight away something significant had occurred at the clubhouse,” Ben said.
“I’ve spent a lot of time over the years playing on the course and spending time at the clubhouse and I know how critical places like this are to the ongoing health and wellbeing of a small town like Gisborne…it’s been a real hit to morale.
“We made the decision to prepare one of our mid-sized gensets and get it across to Brett and the guys at the GGC to help in any way possible.”
While the rebuilding effort is under way in earnest, the timeframe for a new, finished clubhouse is estimated to be up to 12 months.
