Browned off by damage

By Bridget Brady
THE pride and joy of the Hampton Park Bowls Club has been severely damaged.
The club’s new $200,000 synthetic green, which members waited about five years for, was hit by the massive storm on Friday, causing tears of up to seven metres long.
Club greenkeeper Neville Hendrie watched on Friday as the water from Pound Road spread across the bowls club.
“It’s a bit heartbreaking after all the work that has gone into that new green,” Mr Hendrie said.
“We were very proud of it and it was running so well.”
Mr Hendrie said water swept across the old green before “cascading” down onto the new green on the lower level.
He estimated about 600,000 litres of water filled the new green, which the club has been using for about 11 months. He said Casey council would assess the damage and he would attempt to get the old green up and running as soon as possible.
“The old green seemed to have survived a little better. I’m hoping to get it into some sort of playable condition,” Mr Hendrie said.
Luckily, the clubrooms were spared any water damage on Friday.
“There were seven members at the club and they lifted what they could off the floor in case the water got into the clubrooms.”
Mr Hendrie stuck around at the clubrooms until about 9pm on Friday, returning home to face his second disaster for the night.
Mr Hendrie said the water fell about 25mm short of entering his house, with about a foot of water in his garage.
“It was filling up our backyard,” he said.
Mr Hendrie has lived in Hampton Park since 1974 and said he had never seen the nearby drain break its banks.