Area golf courses contend with the elements in 2008

To be a golf course superintendent, a vast knowledge of grass, soil and chemicals is required.

To be a golf course superintendent in Southeast Missouri, a sense of humor also is required.

When Mother Nature throws two ice storms at your course in a span of two weeks, uprooting trees, snapping limbs and cutting off power, then follows that with a 14-inch rainfall over a span of 48 hours, it might be best to laugh.

Thus far, weather-wise, 2008 has looked like a three-month prank.

Course superintendent Mike Sprick was hired at Bent Creek Golf Course in Jackson in October, and when his employers playfully blamed him for the acts of nature and asked what, if any, surprises he might have next, Sprick replied, "Locust."

"It's been interesting," Sprick said as he took a break from working on the 18th green earlier this week, one of 2008's rare sunny, 70-degree days. "The ice was as bad as I've ever seen it. I've never been through an ice storm like that. But talking to some superintendent friends of mine from last year, they had that big one go through Springfield [Mo.] and go right up I-44 into St. Louis. It could have been much, much worse for us."

Sprick said the 2007 ice storm caused between $350,000 to $500,000 on some upscale courses in Springfield and St. Louis.

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

Bent Creek, also along the path of the tornado that cut through Jackson in 2003, probably was hit harder by the February ice than the four other Cape Girardeau County courses. But like the others, it has emerged with no long-term damage other than the loss of branches and trees.

"Because the golf course is pretty wide open -- we don't have the tree-lined fairways like some of those ancient courses in St. Louis and even Springfield -- it really wasn't as bad for us as it could of been," Sprick said. "We lost three whole trees, and probably four or five others we had to take down because they were just damaged beyond repair from the ice. And there will be some more that we'll end up taking down. We want to see what's left and what's live in them yet and what they look like from an aesthetic point of view. We really were fortunate we didn't lose anything that affects the playability of the golf course."

Overall, while waterlogged, the area courses, sanity and humor are still all intact.

Sprick saw the creek along the 11th hole spill over its banks and flood the fairway during the record-breaking rainfall March 17 to 19, and deemed the course seaworthy in the event of further deluges.

ROB LITZELFELNER ~ Submitted photo Water overflowed the creek into the 11th fairway at Bent Creek during the record rain that hit the area March 17 to 19.

"All of our greens are high enough that if they get covered by water, the animals will start lining up two by two," he said.

While every course has a limit to the amount of rain it can handle, the local courses all have contour and drain well.

The veteran

At Cape Girardeau Country Club, longtime superintendent Brad Tidwell has endured the gamut of nature's surprises, ranging from floods to droughts.

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com Paul Stehr hit a ball on the 11th hole at Bent Creek Golf Course in Jackson. Keeping courses playable has been an ongoing battle for area courses in 2008, with two ice storms in February and record rain in March.

Cape Girardeau received 17.24 inches of rain in March, a record for any month since records have been kept. April has followed with above average rainfall, with gauges topping more than 4 inches for the month after Thursday's rainfall.

Tidwell said an excess of rain early in the season can hinder the deep root growth of winter grasses like bent grass, which cover the greens of all the area courses, with the exception of Cape Jaycee Municipal Golf Course, which has Bermuda grass. Tidwell added that if deep roots are not established, bent grass becomes susceptible to summer's blistering heat.

He said the long-range forecast is for normal rainfall.

"I just think we're in a real extreme wet period," Tidwell said. "Heck, it's supposed to shower in April. April showers bring May flowers. I'm not worrying yet. My panic button is still very deep in my desk."

A redesign of the Cape Country Club course, which sits adjacent to the Mississippi River, in 1996 remedied habitual flooding on several holes.

This year, when the Mississippi crested more than 9 feet above flood stage in Cape Girardeau, only a cart path and fairway on the 17th hole were covered with water. Besides trees and branches, the only other casualties from the ice storms were a driving range net and a cover for the swimming pool.

"Jackson got hit awful bad," Tidwell said of the ice storms. "You can still see some of the damage out there on the treetops, a lot of broken branches. As soon as it dries up a little bit, we'll have to go out and do quite a bit of tree trimming on hangers. It's just a lot of cleanup."

Slow play

The mid-March rain forced most the courses to close for a day or two and, with carts required to stay on the cart paths due to soggy ground, golfers have had to walk more than usual. The walking and wet conditions have discouraged some from playing, but not all.

"We had guys that wanted to come out the day after we had 13 inches of rain and couldn't understand why we were closed," Tidwell said.

Even when golfers were allowed back on the course, the back nine remained closed for about a week at Bent Creek.

Overall, courses have reported a dramatic drop in play.

Cape Country Club professional Steve Harris said March play was off 60 percent from a year ago.

"We're anxious to get going," Harris said. "We want the season to get started."

Kimbeland Country Club general manager Jim Walker said more than limbs and a power line were down at his club after the ice.

"February was the first month that I remember that we did not have a green fee," Walker said. "February was a horrible month. Normally we have a lot of play in February. That doesn't mean they weren't playing. We just didn't have any guests."

He said it took 7 to 10 days before the course re-opened nine holes after the first ice storm.

"Our staff has done a fantastic job cleaning this stuff up," Walker said. "They've worked a lot of hours and done a lot of work."

Dalhousie Golf Club general manager Andy Deiro said his course is holding up well through the rain, and suffered minimal damage from the icing.

"The only real issue is the timing. It's just awkward," Deiro said. "We're trying to get things accomplished. We've got this big new clubhouse and all this landscaping going in. It just makes it awkward to have to start and stop. And the weather gets nice and the ground is not dried out. We've got a beautiful day, and we're not quite able to do quite as much as we wanted."

Missing the green

While private clubs have monthly money committed from members, public courses such as Bent Creek and Cape Jaycee rely on daily green fees as their primary source of income.

"The biggest impact for us has been financial," Bent Creek co-owner Mike Litzelfelner said.

He didn't know what his rounds-of-play numbers were in March.

"I've been scared to look," he said.

He said nice weather last weekend brought the golfers out in good numbers, but there is a lot of ground to make up.

"We're behind the 8-ball right now," Litzelfelner said. "We haven't had many good golf days. Our total revenue source is the daily golfer. That's by far the biggest impact we've had, and it's pretty hard to catch up."

Jason Karnes with the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department said golfers have been slow to embrace the new golf season. Cape Jaycee was only open for three days in February because of the ice storms.

The course uses temporary greens during the late fall and winter, and re-opened the permanent greens at the end of February. The Bermuda grass course is slow to awaken, but thrives in the hot months.

"Especially for us, January and February usually aren't that big of plays," Karnes said. "It affected us in March with all the rain, but we're not off a ton."

Karnes said the course was closed for about three days after the deluge.

"The weather's just not cooperating," Karnes said. "Even on days like today [Tuesday], with a chance of rain, it's kind of scaring people off. I guess everybody expects it."

If golf is an addictive game as many say, the inconsistent weather has prolonged the winter hibernation and not allowed the addiction to begin and run its course.

"I don't think people are really in the golf mode yet," Karnes said. "And I think, hopefully if the weather can make a change here, I think people will start to shift into that mode a little bit. I hope so anyway."

And while revenue has been down on some fronts, costs have been up with labor for cleanup.

"Right after the ice storm, we used quite a lot of labor hours we normally wouldn't," Walker said of the situation at Kimbeland and encountered by the other courses.

Flood in the desert

Like some golfers, golf course operators find sand bunkers nothing but trouble. Sand gets washed away and water pools when drains clog. In addition to the physical labor to groom bunkers, there is the cost of hauling in sand.

"They're a maintenance nightmare," Walker said. "They're pretty and nice, but maintenance and keeping up with them is a constant battle. I know we've eliminated some over the years, and I know Bent Creek has."

At Dalhousie, the unique George Thomas fingered-bunker design, vertical walls, drainage system and white pro-angle sand has helped avoid the typical washout courses encounter.

"Rather than washing out, it hangs in there pretty tight," Deiro said of the crushed-granite sand.

Keeping perspective

Deiro spoke the sentiments of the rest of the area courses when he assessed the overall picture.

"It's been hard on the staff, trying to get things cleaned up, but thankfully no damage," Deiro said. "And certainly compared to people that have gone through some real serious things, ... we've lost golf for a few days. Some people have lost homes and basements, and things like that. So in the big scheme of things, we're pretty fortunate."

He's welcoming some drier days, but is wary of the extremes.

"I can tell you, we're all ready to be done with it," Deiro said. "The only down side is our golf course superintendent [Todd Ellis], says that the way it is in Southeast Missouri, we're going to get torrential downpours for the next couple of weeks, then we won't get a drop of rain until September or October. We're complaining about it now, but we'll be begging for it in a few months."