Club members and visitors alike were devastated after the Bolado
Golf Club Clubhouse burned to the ground late Saturday night
causing nearly $1 million in damages.
Tres Pinos – Club members and visitors alike were devastated after the Bolado Golf Club Clubhouse burned to the ground late Saturday night causing nearly $1 million in damages.
The fire started around 2am, but Hollister and California Department of Forestry firefighters didn’t get called to the public golf course until almost an hour later when a passerby spotted the blaze and called emergency officials, CDF Fire Captain Peter Antonell said. Antonell believes an electrical malfunction probably started the fire, but said he did not know exactly what caused the malfunction.
The two-story clubhouse, built in 1950, was the central hub of the public 18-hole golf course. It contained administrative offices, a bar and grill, a lounge area and about 30 or 40 lockers for members to store golf clubs.
Many were shocked by the loss.
“It’s a devastating situation,” said longtime Bolado golfer Ray Sanchez. “It felt like losing your grandmother for all of us who played out there.”
Firefighters were called to the scene by CDF to help control the blaze, Hollister Fire Chief Bill Garringer said.
“There’s no hydrants out there, so there wasn’t much they could do,” he said. “(Firefighters) had no chance of putting it out – it had quite a headstart.”
Although no one was injured, the clubhouse and it’s contents were completely destroyed, said Dan Holt, the club’s general manager.
“I’m still in shock,” he said. “I just can’t believe what I’m looking at.”
Holt said many items destroyed in the fire such as trophies, hole-in-one lists and club champion plaques were invaluable.
“Those nostalgic items can’t be replaced,” he said. “The material stuff can be.”
Clubhouse office clerk Andy Pena, who has been golfing at the club for nearly a dozen years, lost a $1,600 set of golf clubs in the fire.
“I didn’t have them insured,” he said. “But hopefully the club’s insurance will cover it.”
Pena said the mood on the course was somber Monday, but that people continued to play through the mess.
“A lot of people who haven’t golfed in years have been coming out just to see what happened,” he said.
Sanchez, who has been playing at Bolado for 25 years, is determined to overcome the disaster.
“The trophies have melted, but the memories will remain,” he said. “It’s home – we’re going to rebuild it – make it bigger and better.”
Sanchez hopes to hold fundraisers in the coming months to rebuild the clubhouse.
“We’re already working on a fundraiser,” he said. “Hopefully we can raise some money and get the ball rolling again, but it’s going to take time.”
Holt said he hopes to begin construction on a new clubhouse within 45 days, but said it could take up to a year to complete.
The course, which is home to 275 members, will remain open, Holt said.
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
