Month of May wet, busy for golf staff

To say that the month of May has been a wet, busy one for Keith Ihms would be a huge understatement.

Ihms is the Bella Vista Property Owners Association’s director of golf maintenance. His monthly report to the Joint Advisory Committee on Wednesday, May 11, was full of detailed problems created by storms that hit northwest Arkansas the week before and how he and his staff were working to fix what Mother Nature had broken.

“Within 24 hours on May 4 we received five-plus inches of rain on site with higher totals in some areas within our watershed,” Ihms told the committee with regard to the Bentonville, Centerton, Pea Ridge and Bella Vista area.

The resulting rainfall forced the closure of all of Bella Vista’s golf courses on Thursday, May 5. Dogwood and the back nine at Scotsdale opened at noon on Friday, May 6, while Scotsdale’s front nine opened on Sunday, May 8. Berksdale, Kingswood and the Country Club course remained closed for at least the remainder of the week of May 9-14.

Ihms’ detailed report listed the impact of the rain and the damage that had been caused by the water.

He said a total of 12 greens went under water resulting in debris and silt being deposited on the surface of Country Club greens 11, 12 and 17; Berksdale greens 2, 3 and 8; Kingswood greens 2, 3, 4, 7, 14; and the nursery.

These greens, he pointed out, had to have the silt washed off their surface and then aeration completed to insure they don’t seal over. He said it takes four employees between one and two days per green to complete this work, depending on depth of material and total area impacted.

Silt, rock and debris were also deposited onto some fairways and approach areas.

He also noted:

• Bridge work to clear railings and repair/replace missing railing on four bridges at Kingswood and one at Berksdale.

• Irrigation main line repair needed at Kingswood bridge on No. 8.

• Several erosion issues on the valley course as well as at highlands, Scotsdale and Dogwood.

• Cart path damage on the Country Club’s No. 13.

• Bunker repairs needed at the Country Club’s Nos. 11, 12 and 17, which went underwater. Ihms said a contractor was already working on repairs for these bunkers. He said all the contaminated sand was being removed, the Better Billy Bunker liner system was being cleaned and checked/ repaired as required, new sand was being installed to a 4-inch depth and all new sand was being packed with a plate compactor.

Rain was also a factor in dropping the number of rounds played in the month of April.

Darryl Muldoon, the POA’s director of golf operations, said rounds in the month of April totaled 14,213, which is down by 677 from a year ago. He said member rounds (9,770) were down by 988 and guest rounds (4,443) were up by 331.