Rocket Mortgage Classic still on schedule after wild storm

Cleanup work is expected to continue into Tuesday after a storm with winds of 70-80 mph felled trees late Sunday at Detroit Golf Club, giving officials a scare at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

The storm closed the golf course to media on Monday, but did no damage to the course and left structures intact, Rocket Mortgage Classic Executive Director Jason Langwell said.

“We’re in great shape,” Langwell said Monday amid the din of wood chippers and chainsaws. “We’ve got golfers, we’ve got a full driving range here, Max (Homa) and others out practicing. Players on the back nine getting their practice rounds in just like they always do on a Monday.”

The cell came through at roughly 6:45 p.m. Sunday, said Rocket Mortgage Classic Chief Referee and PGA TOUR Senior Tournament Director Stephen Cox.

“We got incredibly lucky,” Cox said. “The trees fell in the right direction. One fell on a car at the entrance to the club, and another fell in close proximity to the practice putting green and did some minor damage, but if it had fallen 4 or 5 feet to the right it would have been much worse.”

No one was injured, Cox said.

“Really a yeoman’s effort by Davy and Brightview and a number of landscape companies throughout Michigan to come out and clean up the golf course, pick up the sticks, remove a few trees,” Langwell said. “And we’ll be ready to go 10 a.m. (Tuesday), as planned, opening the gates for our community days, our youth clinic, and our celebrity scramble plans. It’s been a great day and we’re in great shape to get things going tomorrow.

“We’ve been really fortunate,” he continued. “There’s no damage to any of our structures, no damage to the golf course whatsoever. Certainly, some branches down, sticks around, a few trees down, but a handful of companies have come out to help us. It’s just been a yeoman’s effort to get everything cleaned up, but we’ve got a great golf course ready for play.”