TORRINGTON – The Cottonwood at Torrington golf course in Torrington is set to have eight new bridges added to the course by the time this year’s golf season begins.
After the flooding of last summer, two culverts on the back nine were fully submerged and destroyed by water. Once the flooding subsided, the remnants of the culvert were removed.
Starting with the new year, Dave Dent, the golf course manager, and the course’s maintenance staff began working on the new bridges around the course, starting with a 40-foot long, 12-foot wide bridge on the south slew of hole No. 10. The new bridge replaces a culvert that washed away. It is 12-feet wide to allow for trucks and maintenance equipment to cross to hole No. 11.
In place of the other culvert, a 40-foot long, eight-foot wide bridge is going in between hole Nos. 11 and 12. In both of the 40-foot bridges, electrical and water lines need to be run so the sprinkler system on 11 can still operate.
Another wider bridge is being added to the east side of the back nine to act as a way for maintenance equipment to access the holes easier. Five other bridges were either installed last year or are set to be finished this spring.

Dent said the new bridges should improve the flow of water throughout the golf course. Bridges allow for less restricted water flow, even though none of the water courses were altered, he said.
“You can’t stop the water,” Dent said. “All of these bridges should alleviate a lot of pressure on the back nine.”
The bridges will also add to the overall aesthetics of the course.
“We created a theme not really knowing we did, but now we are running with it,” Dent said of how the course looks. “It was on the front nine and now we are continuing it on the back nine.”
The golf course received funding for the bridges from anonymous donors, in addition to money from the rec board and from the city budget. The maintenance crew and several volunteers are working to get all of the bridges installed and passable. Dent said there is no target finish date for the project, but he is anticipating things to be wrapped up in a month.
Although there are several construction projects on the back nine holes, the whole course is open to play. Dent said construction crews work around any players.
In addition to the bridges, Dent said the golf course is continuing to improve in other ways. The golf shop is being restocked with new merchandise each day and the country club is getting a facelift.
With the updated facilities, the course is hoping for a successful summer. There are more than 20 scheduled tournaments and golfing events for this summer. Dent said that the Dilly Tournament (May 27-28), Bloedorn Tournament (July 29-30) and Harkins Tournament (Sept. 2-3) are just a few tournaments the course hosts.
“Overall, we do a number of tournaments and they’re all good and are good for the community,” Dent said.
For more information on the course, including pricing, a schedule of the summer and more information on the golf course staff, check out www.cottonwoodattorrington.com.