Winter rules: Golf courses struggle with the weather

"The weather has really impacted our March and through April so far,” said Steve Bratcher, head professional at Crystal Spring Golf Course. "Rounds are down. About half of what they normally are.”

Most courses can handle some rain but the effect is on golfers who don’t want to slog around a wet, muddy course. Because the grounds are saturated, courses have to balance between the amount of traffic and the conditions.

"The traffic has been minimal because of the rain,” Bratcher said. "The amount of traffic is very low, so it’s not hurting the course, right now.”

The rains haven’t affected private clubs as much. Membership dues make up for lost green fee money. At Peninsula Golf and Country Club, the rain hasn’t really been a factor.

"We did a big drainage project on our course in ’02 and ’03. Our course has been open and in good shape. We’ve had carts driving on fairways,” said Tom Toschi, Peninsula’s director of golf. "In March, we had 1,500 rounds. That is probably a little above average. Just because our course drains well, and when you have windows (in the weather), [players] can jump out and play. We have other clubs calling, trying to get on because they’re closed. … It’s getting old. When it’s better, we’ll get slammed.”

Not only does the rain affect the amount of traffic, it also hurts the maintenance crews. With wet, soggy grass, crews can’t get out on the course and perform upkeep — mowing the grass being the biggest difficulty.

"You pretty much have to wait until it stops raining. When it gets this bad on a day-to-day basis, we’ll send our crew home,” Bratcher said. "Once it dries up, we’ll get caught up on course conditions. I know people have cabin fever. We’re just waiting for the sun to come out.”

Poplar Creek used to be one of the worst courses around when it got saturated. Built in 1933, the course didn’t see any major renovations for decades. Add to that the course is built on a sandy landfill near the Bay, when it rained for any amount of time, the course was closed. Head Pro Gary Monisteri remembers the time when the course would be closed for weeks or months when heavy rains hit the area.

The course was revamped with a new drainage system in 1999 and 2000 and now is one of the best public courses to play when the rains come.

"We went from one of the worst draining courses in the area to one of the best, especially for the public courses,” Monisteri said. "It’s very rare when we close the course. With the new drainage, once it stops raining, it drains in about four hours. In the past, we’d be closed for months at a time.”

Monisteri said rounds are down at Poplar Creek, saying that most people don’t like to play in the rain and that people may remember the old days when the course would shut down because of the weather.

"Some people remember the old course … they’re kind of gun shy,” Monisteri said.

Instead of focusing on the negatives of the weather, however, Monisteri tried to look on the bright side. There are less people playing when the weather is bad, allowing golfers to spend less time waiting on tees or waiting for the group in front to putt out. Also, winter rules allow some leeway for relief from wet greens or standing water and players can be a little more aggressive with their shots, knowing that the ball won’t carry or roll as far because of the wet conditions. He said that Poplar Creek will also make the course more player friendly.

"Normally what we do when it’s raining is move the tees up a little bit, knowing that the course isn’t playing as long,” Monisteri said. He added that pin placements will also be a little more accessible.

Monisteri said it’s all about preparing mentally, having the right equipment to play in the rain and knowing the little tricks to keep things dry. Bring your golf umbrella and you can store gloves and towels in its frame to keep them out of the weather. Use your bag cover to keep your clubs dry and the most important tip is to keep your grips as dry as possible.

Bring an extra pair of shoes and socks to change throughout the round. Bring your lightweight rain shell and rain pants. He also said there is some technology available that makes wet rounds easier. There are gloves that get sticky when wet, allowing a better grip on damp clubs.

"[The rain] shouldn’t really stop them. People get themselves in the right frame of mind. You have to want to be playing and you look at it as a challenge,” Monisteri said. "If you fight it and just think it’s terrible, you’re not going to enjoy it and you’re not going to score well.

"If you’re totally worried about the stuff, you’ll never get out. What’s the worst that can happen? You get a little water on you. If you really feel like playing, just do it. Any round of golf is a fun feeling when you finish. Some of the rounds people remember the most are the challenging ones.”<