HMGC Grounds Blog: Record setting April rainfall.

The golf course opened on March 2nd this year, but we really have not had a consistent stretch of nice weather to reward the early start. Cold was the culprit in March and rain has been the norm in April. The creek has come out of its banks 3-4 times already this year, and last year we were in the midst of a 22 day drought that kept the creek in check, but had us scrambling for help with our turf.

April has brought us almost 8 inches of rain which beat the record of a little over 7 inches, set in 1929. Year to date we are 6 inches over our normal average to date.

The golf course in general drains extremely well, but the take home story, we are at the mercy of the creek. The entire course eventually drains into the creek. As the creek rises the drain tiles that empty directly into the creek, fill up and water will work backwards through the drains and fill bunkers and low areas. While this sounds like a problem, it is actually advantageous, as it allows all water to drain back into the creek as the creek level goes down. This eliminates standing water and large puddles that develop where the creek crests the banks but it presents an opportunity for the water to drain back into the creek once water levels go down.

The most unfortunate part of the creek flooding is that we lose access to 9, 10, 11 and sometimes 2 bridge. The bridge on 2 is the last that we lose access to, and once this happens we lose most access to the south portion of the course.

Please be patient as we are at the mercy of the creek and all areas to the west of us that drain into the creek. As you know I own a very large amount of stock in the yellow rope company and will do our best to get carts out as soon as we know that damage will be minimal or non existent.

Pictures below are from 2021, but pretty much sum up what we look like when we lose the creek.