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Laolao golf courses first to open after Soudelor
Laolao Bay Golf & Resort was the first to resume full operations a few weeks after its east and west courses were littered with debris brought by the destructive winds of Typhoon Soudelor.
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- Leaves are starting to grow again on the row of trees that line the road entering Laolao Bay Golf & Resort. (Jon Perez)
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- Laolao Bay Golf & Resort a day after Typhoon Soudelor hit Saipan. (Contributed Photo)
“We erected and re-planted about 95 percent of the trees in the entrance. And it took us a week just to clear the road going inside the golf resort,” said Laolao golf course operations manager Tony Satur.
“On both golf courses, 80 percent of the trees were uprooted. That’s why our crew is still working to plant them again and replace the ones that need to be replaced,” added the CNMI Sports Hall of Famer.
The golf range, near the hotel, was the first to open two days after the typhoon.
Satur said the east course, considered Laolao’s signature course with its layout along Saipan’s cliffs in Kagman, opened its nine holes after a week.
“We opened only nine holes. There’s still debris on the course, which added to the difficulty in the layout, but it is playable. We opened the full 18 holes a few days after” said Satur.
The west course’s first nine holes was cleared of debris one-and-a-half weeks after and before the end of August the entire golf and resort was fully operational.
“There’s still some cleaning up to do. But the course is ready and playable. The conditions of the east and west courses are now back to normal,” Satur said.
An average of 80 golfers play in both courses during weekdays and it shoots to more than 100 every weekends.
Laolao Bay Golf & Resort acting human resources manager Pina Magofna said being closed for a month cost management a huge amount of money. “Laolao lost about $350,000 in revenues after Soudelor. That’s including the hotel, golf course, and the restaurant.”
The entire golf and resort, located in the east side of Kagman, was a land used for grazing by cattle farmers before.
Japan’s Shimizu Corp. turned the land into a golf and resort in the mid 1990s tapping golf legend Greg Norman to design a 36-hole course.
