Rainy year hurts golf numbers

The Joint Advisory Committee on Golf heard about rain at its regular meeting on Wednesday. Maintenance director Keith Ihms had some numbers from the Highlands Golf Course

From November 2018 through early December 2019, the course had 93 inches of rain. The average for one year is 43 inches. The number of rain days affects rounds, Ihms pointed out.

Even if there’s only a small amount of rain, Golf Operations director Darryl Muldoon added, it means that golf carts must stay on the concrete paths and that always affects rounds.

Rounds were down for the year, he said, although nonmember rounds have gone up. Promotions to nonmembers have been successful, he said.

The rain is also responsible for some maintenance problems.

The front nine holes of Scotsdale have been closed since an October storm washed away some creek bank near two bridges on the course. Ihms said he has an estimate to repair the damage. It’s not as bad as it could be, he said.

The estimate is for about $180,000. He thinks the work could be complete in time to reopen the front nine in the spring.

On Berksdale, Muldoon is working on a plan to reopen nine holes. Nine holes of that course were permanently closed due to flood damage in the spring of 2017. After that, the course operated as a nine-hole course. Earlier this year, damage to a bridge was discovered and the entire course was closed. Muldoon had been working on a plan to move traffic away from the bridge so nine holes could reopen.

Part of his plan was to open one section of cart path to two way traffic, but he said some fencing would be necessary for safety. At Wednesday’s work session, Muldoon said that he abandoned the plan to spend money at Berksdale because of the failure of an assessment increase.

He’s still looking for a less expensive method to open the course.

Meanwhile, more damage to the bridge was discovered. Ihms reminded the committee that there was an estimate of the cost to remove the bridge for $75,000. There is a water line that went over the bridge, but it served only the golf course and it’s not necessary, he said. However, Village Wastewater also has a line that uses the bridge. If that fails, it will impact sewer collections for the east side.