GRANGER, Ind. (WSBT) — It’s been 36 hours since the Juday Creek Golf Course clubhouse in Granger was destroyed by fire.

Clay firefighters are checking the scene regularly, as the owners are left to pick up the pieces.

Despite the owner’s best efforts, the course remained closed to golfers today.

The owner said the reality of losing the building has set in for her.

The goal was to have the course open for play today because the golf course was unaffected by the fire.

There were even golfers who showed up this morning ready to play.

But as the owner started to plan for the reopening, she realized they lost more than they thought.

Fencing surrounds where the clubhouse once stood.

The building is now gone, but many questions remain.

Firefighters from multiple departments battled the flames for hours, but the fire was strong.

Even now, firefighters are unable to go inside because of hotspots.

“So we put the fence up, there’s a lot of children in the neighborhood, there’s a lot of curious people. We just want to keep people out. There’s an area that still could collapse from where the area had burned, so we just want to keep people out of there so they stay safe. It’s unsafe for us to go in and it’s really unsafe for the neighbors,” said Ron Melser, Clay Fire Territory Fire Marshal.

The cause of the fire is still unknown.

There was online speculation on how the fire started.

But the golf course owner, upset to see the rumors, responded quickly to dispel them.

“It was really disheartening. My family built this golf course and the clubhouse. I’ve been here for 35 years. My kids have grown up here and so it was really sad to hear that you know we purposely set the fire or there was accelerate use absolutely not true,” said Michelle Wittig, Owner/General Manager of Juday Creek Golf Course.

Wittig said it feels like they’ve lost more than just a club house, and many others have said the same.

The clubhouse had a venue hall which hosted wedding receptions, graduation parties, and other events.

Wittig said she had her baby shower here.

The building was also important to the firefighters.

“Oh yes, we do our recruiter graduation here. We’ve had our awards ceremony here we are. We’ve done a lot of events here at this facility. Oh, I’ve been in this building quite a few times and it’s different to kind of see it at the state and remember what it look like before and I’ve been through most of the areas and I’m like wow it looks a lot different now,” said Melser.

The goal is to have the golf course open for play by this weekend.

Again, the cause of the fire is under investigation.