The rain that accompanied heavy winds and damage in the area Monday didn’t want to stop for work crews Tuesday who were found cutting and removing dozens of downed trees at Pennhills Club felled by the storm.
Kevin Mosher, general manager of the country club located off Minard Run Road in Bradford, said the club was closed Tuesday to remove an estimated 40 or more trees that were blown down by a confirmed EF1 tornado that struck the property at 4:20 p.m. Monday.
“The good news is that no one was hurt,” Mosher said. “The employees were here (during the storm’s onset) and there were some golfers on the golf course.”
Mosher said the lightning alarm was sounded when it was realized the storm was bearing down on the course. He said the golfers immediately left the greens before the storm struck.
“They all drove out of the driveway before the storm came across the driveway and blocked it completely” with downed trees, he said. “It completely blocked our driveway in and out. Our staff was here last night (Monday) until 10 o’clock cleaning it up so emergency vehicles could get in.”
Mosher said it appeared the wind followed a path across the golf course that ran parallel to Minard Run Road.
“It followed Minard Run the full length of the golf course,” he said. “I’m glad it wasn’t worse and that there was no structural damage.”
Along those lines, he said the nearby clubhouse and its patio weren’t touched by the winds.
“It’s wide open here so there was nothing to slow (the winds) down,” Mosher continued. “There are some twisted (trees) … I understand the National Weather Service is en route to make a call on what the extent of the storm was, and the wind speed.”
Mosher said no matter what is determined regarding the storm’s caliber, he has been grateful for the offers of help from the community.
“My phone rang all night last night and we had emails and texts from people volunteering to help,” he noted. “That’s the community we live in; it’s a great community.”
Mosher said he anticipates reopening the golf course and clubhouse today, but work crews will continue restoring the property with extensive planting of trees.
“It will probably be about two weeks of clean-up work,” he added. “It will be done by full staff and membership volunteers.”
Longtime Pennhills employee Chuck Kindervater stopped by to see the golf course after he had heard about the wind damage.
“A lot of times we’ve had wind storms take out a bunch of trees and branches, but nothing like this,” Kindervater said, adding tornados have struck the Minard Run valley in the past and he wouldn’t be surprised if the current storm is classified as such.
“This is tornado alley here,” he said with a laugh.
Later on in the evening, the National Weather Service made its determination that the storm was in fact a tornado, giving credence to Kindervater’s joking comment.
