Time to hit the diving range?
Golf courses, shops, farmers and builders hit by record rainfall
GOLF clubs have reported an ‘unprecedented’ level of closures since last October as record rainfall levels flood fairways across the country.
A survey carried out by the Club Management Association of Ireland (CMAI) on behalf of the Irish Mail on Sunday shows that over the last few months clubs have had to stay closed anywhere between two and four times more days than previous years.
‘Major flooding’ and waterlogged sections of courses have slowed grass growth and encouraged the spread of fusarium disease, which diminishes the quality of greens and fairways.
CMAI chief executive Michael Walsh said these ‘most unusual’ conditions are having a significant impact on clubs.
He told the MoS: ‘A couple of clubs have had anything up to 20 days wiped out between Christmas and now.
‘Courses have been flooded that have never been flooded before, and then [once water recedes] you can’t really work the land because it’s too sodden.’
He added it has been a ‘very, very difficult’ period for most golf clubs, with even some links courses – which are built on sand which drains water away more quickly – experiencing flooding for the first time.
‘It’s been horrific really from the golfing management point of view and from a golf club member’s point of view,’ said Mr Walsh, who is the former manager of Killiney Golf Club.
Even members-only clubs lose revenue when closed, through bars and restaurants being shuttered and loss of competition days, for which the entrants pay a fee.
Almost all of the respondents to the survey said they have implemented or are considering measures to protect against extra rainfall going forward, from adding more sand on courses to major drainage overhauls.
And the bad news for golf courses and many
other outdoor activity based businesses is that there appears to be no let up in miserable weather in the short term. Met Éireann has reported above-average rainfall across the winter months for almost all of the country, on the back of several ‘wettest
ever’ months in 2023.
And according to climate models, we can expect more of the same going forward, with scientists confident the downpours of the last few months are the result of human-caused climate change.
Meanwhile, those who sell items for enjoying the great outdoors are praying for a dry spring too.
Damien Kelly, the director of OutdoorLiving.ie, told the MoS: ‘It’s been one of the wettest winters in history, so it is affecting our sales. That is very noticeable with the record rainfall.’
Furniture sales are down overall, Mr Kelly said, although more people are buying quick-drying outdoor sofas and cushions, intent on
making the most of their gardens regardless of the conditions.
Despite the challenges, Mr Kelly sounded an optimistic note, saying the year ‘usually balances itself out’ in terms of its wet and dry spells, ‘so we’re not worried about the weather’.
‘April can be a very dry month, so I’m very optimistic.’
Apart from ruining leisure activities, the rain has also hit farmers who need the weather to play ball to put bread on their own tables and tables around the country and beyond.
Bobby Miller, a tillage farmer who is chairman of the Irish Grain Growers group, said there were 80,000 fewer acres of winter crops sown last October and November, when farmers ‘couldn’t even get crops into the ground’ owing to high rainfall then.
‘When it comes to the current situation – March is usually our peak time to sow crops like barley and wheat, and less than 5% of the crops are gone into the ground at this stage.
‘You’d be hoping or expecting 70% to 80% to be in the ground by this stage, or even 90%. And it just hasn’t happened this spring,’ he told the MoS.
Farmers had similar issues last year, with most crops not planted until April for the same reasons.
‘There’s a time window for getting crops into the ground and there comes a point where it’s just not viable to plant crops. We’re not there yet, but…’
And it is the same for livestock farmers, who haven’t been able to let animals out to graze as it would do too much damage to the saturated land ahead of peak growing months. This has resulted in a
‘We can expect more of the same going forward’
‘Farmers couldn’t get crops into the ground’
shortage of fodder among farmers, meaning they have to spend more than usual on feed.
‘April and May are the key months for grass growth – that’s when you save next winter’s fodder,’ Mr Miller explained. ‘And there’s a cost incurred by having to keep livestock in for so long.
‘You try and budget for a four, five, six-month winter, but it’s heading into seven or eight months now. It’s a heavy cost to be carrying.’
Construction has also felt the dampening effect of the weather. Conor O’Connell, who is housing director at the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), also said the ‘extraordinary period of rainfall’ has slowed down building.
‘Springtime is usually the period for housing commencements but the weather has affected and delayed production,’ he said.
‘Rain can have a delaying effect on construction of residential units and it also has cost implications.
‘Brick laying, pipe laying, plastering outside, painting outside… these can all be interrupted as a result of poor weather.’
Mr O’Connell said it is ‘probably too early to say’ if inclement weather could affect housing targets for the year, but the CIF ‘don’t expect’ that to be the case.