Just days after Mirimichi attained a second, elite designation for being friendly to nature, nature flooded the golf course.

The Scotland-based Golf Environment Organization announced last month that the first golf course it is certifying in the Americas, and just the ninth worldwide, is pop star Justin Timberlake’s 18 holes south of Millington.

To put the significance of the certification into perspective, among the courses registered and trying to become certified is the Old Course at St. Andrews in Great Britain, often regarded as the world’s best.

Augusta National has the incomparable Masters tournament, Pebble Beach has the stunning coastline, and Mirimichi has an emerging claim as the nation’s most nature-friendly golf operation.

But on Friday, as many as 75 full- and part-time workers were busy repairing damage done last weekend by Big Creek, which flooded half the course, the practice area and the shorter executive course.

Play is not affected because the course is closed anyway for the first half of the year for renovations.

Another silver lining appeared as the water receded this week.

“We were pleasantly surprised,” general manager Rich Peterson said. “We had a new layer of topsoil on the fairways and tee boxes. And that silt is just doing a world of good for the grass and all the other plants out there.”

Flooding may be natural, but it’s not the kind of irrigation practice promoted by the Golf Environment Organization.

Its certification means Mirimichi meets the nonprofit’s standards for the way it uses less water, protects water quality, sprays less pesticide, creates more natural habitats, plants native vegetation, uses less energy and leads other courses toward environmentalism.

“Environmental sustainability is about more than what we do at our course,” Timberlake said in a prepared statement. “It is about taking a leadership role and encouraging other golf courses, and organizations of all kinds around the country and around the globe to emulate our commitment toward making a positive impact on the world we live in.”

Mirimichi was already the nation’s first course be certified as an Audubon International Classic Sanctuary.

The other certified Golf Environment Organization courses comprise two in The Netherlands, two in Sweden and one each in Italy, United Kingdom, Denmark and Switzerland.

Mirimichi had been scheduled to reopen July 24, but the flood-recovery work may push the date back a week or two, Peterson said.

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