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The Weather Outside is Weather

The footage of a Minnesota golf course being demolished by a hail storm will blow your mind and break your heart

August 14, 2023

Nature giveth and nature taketh. It hands us rolling, verdant patches of greenery on which to build golf courses. Then it spends the rest of eternity testing our resolve to maintain them. Just ask Oakdale Golf Club in Buffalo Lake, Minnesota, which was struck by a violent hail storm this weekend. What began as a regular summer thunderstorm escalated rapidly on Friday afternoon as baseball-sized hail began to plummet from the sky. Golfers on the course captured the incredible footage as they scrambled for what little shelter they could find.

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Derek Hasselberg / Facebook

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Derek Hasselberg / Facebook

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Derek Hasselberg / Facebook

However, the true extent of the damage wasn’t clear until the sun broke back through the clouds and the club’s superintendents went out to examine the greens.

Luckily no one was seriously injured by the storm, but Oakdale was still forced to close for much of the weekend as they underwent clean-up and recovery efforts. Thanks to the help of local golfers and community members—as well as a little sprinkling of greenskeeper pixie dust—Oakdale made massive strides in just a few days. From the looks of things, should be up and running again in no time.

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Oakdale Golf Club / Facebook

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Oakdale Golf Club / Facebook