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'Engineering marvel' | Hole 13 at TPC River Highlands restored for Travelers after Ida washed it away

Championship play is back on solid ground in Cromwell.

CROMWELL, Conn. — After flooding rains from the remnants of Hurricane Ida last September, hole no. 13 at the TPC River Highlands Golf Course in Cromwell suffered severe damage. But the team at the Travelers Championship reacted swiftly to begin the rebuild in time for the annual tournament.

Essentially, it was called a sinkhole; Train tracks and gas lines were exposed, and a crater formed on the left side of the fairway - though, out of bounds. It made news all over the golf world. 

“I’ve not seen something of that magnitude, I’m still awestruck,” said Jeff Reich,  director of golf course maintenance at TPC River Highlands.

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Teams from the TPC, the Connecticut DOT, railroad engineers, and an area contracting firm all took part in the project. Torrington-based O&G Industries took a lead role to get the 13th hole safe again and tournament ready.

“It was incredible, it was basically a landslide,” Chris McPadden, from O&G Industry, said. “We had to build a road in – we built it back up with layers of stone and put a drainage system in…we put new sod in, new grass, and it looks the way it does now, it’s a beautiful job.” 

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Hole 13, by many accounts, is a better version of its former self – with new views of the river that abut the terrain.

“You go down and look at it now, it’s beautiful, it’s stabilized, the way they did the drainage, it’s an engineering marvel,” said Nathan Grube, the director of the Travelers Championship. 

“I’m amazed at what we can do in less than a year’s time frame to bring back a Hole like 13 and make it look better than it was,” Reich added.

Jimmy Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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