If you were hoping to play a round at Mill Creek Metro Parks golf course anytime soon, you’ll have to wait a little longer.
Cleanup continues weeks after an EF-1 tornado and a macroburst tore through the park on July 5, leaving behind widespread damage and forcing parts of the park to remain closed.
Mill Creek Metro Parks’ executive director Aaron Young said said the golf course had the most damage.
“We went through last week. There were over 100 trees that were down on the north course, and we stopped counting at 300 on the south course,” Young said. “We’ve maintained the positive attitude, and we’re just going to keep chipping away at it until we get it done.”
Park officials plan to reassess the damage on August 5 as cleanup efforts continue.
While much of Mill Creek Metro Parks remains open for recreation, the section between Shields Road and U.S. Route 224 remains closed as crews work to safely remove debris and damaged trees.
“It’s [cleanup] been constant since the evening of the fifth,” Young said. “It’s involved both internal crews and third-party contractors, and we’ve also been in contact with the Mahoning County EMA service, which we hope will assist us by the end of this week.”
Despite the extensive damage, park officials are optimistic the golf course will reopen before the end of its regular golf season.
“We’re certainly hopeful that we’ll be open before the end of the normal golf season, which for us is by Thanksgiving,” Young said. “We anticipate there’ll be some golf happening at the metro parks course here in 2026.”
In addition to storm recovery, Young said the search for the park’s next golf and recreation director is also underway.