Scramble mode for courses

BRYCE ALDERTON

Clear skies for a majority of last week offered golf courses in

Newport-Mesa the chance to wring out the oodles and oodles of

rainwater that had fallen for the first few days of the new year and

give the people who work at these places an opportunity to take a

deep breath and reflect.

The rains took their toll on both environment and the employee.

Excessive amounts of water swept sand out of bunkers and sent trees

falling to the earth while some employees lost wages because of

reduced hours.

While the rain affected each course and country club differently,

one conclusion seemed to be unanimous.

Rarely has there been that much rain in such a short time.

Mesa Verde Country Club received 10 inches of rain in four days

and was closed for nearly a week until golfers returned to the course

last Thursday.

“We lost six trees, three good eucalyptus trees,” Mesa Verde head

professional Tom Sargent said. “It was raining so hard the greens had

sheets of water on them.”

Santa Ana Country Club superintendent Dave Zahrte said 6.15 inches

of rain fell from Jan. 7-10. The super-saturated conditions sent one

large eucalyptus tree tumbling to the earth while torrents of water

flowed throughout various parts of the course, Zahrte said.

Zahrte said it was raining so hard Jan. 10 that he could only see

roughly 30 yards from his office window.

At the storm’s worst, Zahrte, the club’s superintendent since

1977, said that water 3 1/2 feet deep rushed through a trough that

fronts the green on the par-3 sixth hole.

“Water was rising all the way up to the front edge of the green

and [veering] all the way back toward [Santa Ana Avenue],” Zahrte

said. “We have three catch basins, but with that volume of water, you

can’t keep up.

“This is the most amount of rain that has come down in a short

period of time.”

When the sun finally came out, calls began pouring into golf

shops.

Phones rang off the hook in the Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club pro

shop the morning of Jan 12 with golfers on the other line hoping to

secure a tee time, said head professional Brad Booth. Costa Mesa

remained open even during the heaviest rains, but play was sporadic

to say the least.

“Both courses [Los Lagos and Mesa Linda] are going, but it’s wet

underfoot,” said Booth, who added that the conditions were the worst

he’s seen due to rain in his 13 years working at the course. “[Course

conditions] are a D to C-minus. We’ve been pumping water the last 30

hours to get everything open.

“Some days there were 15 [players] and other days there were

five.”

Public courses suffer when the weather turns sour because they

rely on green fees for revenue. Private clubs have dues-paying

members, so the economic impact is lessened.

Booth estimated that the rains cost Costa Mesa $100,000 in

revenue.

“That figure is all-encompass- ing, including green fees, pro shop

sales ... ,” Booth said. “People who are normally full-time are

working 10 to 20 hours a week. Cart [employees] often don’t work when

it rains. They lose their wages because of no business. It creates a

hardship.”

On the course, the saturated grasses made it difficult and nearly

impossible to use machine-driven mowers on the fairways and greens at

several courses until drier weather prevailed at the end of last

week. Crews used hand mowers -- if they mowed at all -- until the

grass dries out a bit more.

Warmer weather for a majority of the past week will hopefully

allow people to return to their jobs and give the much- appreciated

maintenance crews, who deserve supreme kudos for the work they do

year round, time to restore these courses to their usually-plush

state.

The record rainfall, which began picking up steam as early as

mid-December, has sent maintenance crews scrambling to keep courses

in playable condition, said Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club

superintendent Jim Fetterly.

“We haven’t mowed the fairways since the middle of December and we

haven’t cut the greens,” Fetterly said. “That is dangerous because

fungus starts growing and you don’t want to let it grow too high.”

Fetterly said he and his crews have repeatedly pumped water from

bunkers and re-filled traps with sand following each passing storm.

“It is frustrating because we find ourselves doing it again and

again,” Fetterly said.

But Fetterly said the benefits outweigh the immediate problems.

“Rain is always good in the long run,” he said. “It flushes things

out. There is nothing we can do to the golf course to re-create what

mother nature can do for us.

“If we have a dry year, we spend more money on fertilizers,

pesticides and water. If we get a wet year, we don’t spend as much

[on those items], but revenue drops. It’s a balance.”