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| Water running across hole 3 fairway |
The picture above was taken last Sunday (1/16/11) on hole 3. Sandpines received 3.11 inches of rain on Saturday (1/15/11). The river running across hole 3 was due to a plugged drain. Jerry removed the debris that had accumulated away from the catch basin, and the river was gone after about 24 hours. On Sunday, the rain let up a bit, and the golf course only received 1.77 inches of rain (4.88" in 48 hours). The golf course was closed due to high water and unplayable conditions on Sunday. The back nine opened for play on Monday with carts. By Tuesday, all 18 holes were open for play with carts. There are still a few areas with standing water, including some bunkers, but overall the course is very playable, especially considering the amount of rain the golf course has received since November.
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| Water flowing onto Sandpines property from the north |
As the ground gets saturated and the water table starts coming up, seasonal lakes and ponds can begin to form to the north of Sandpines. This usually happens to some degree every year. During years with low rainfall these lakes and ponds may not get high enough to flow onto the golf course. Last year was a fairly low precipitation year at Sandpines, but with the wet spring, water started to flow onto the golf course around June. It only lasted for a couple of weeks, and only flowed off of the golf course in one spot (near hole 2 lake), and even then it was just a trickle. In years with a wet fall, the water from the lakes and ponds usually starts flowing onto Sandpines around the start of January, give or take a few weeks. This year water started flowing onto the course from the north around January 8th. By Janurary 15th, the flowing water had worked its way through the course and started flowing off of the golf course in two locations ( near hole 2 and hole 5 lakes). It had been at least 2 years prior to this year since water flowed off of the golf course in the drain area near hole 5. During that time, a drain become clogged down stream. When the water began flowing recently, it began to backup, and made more than a couple of home owners nervous. Thankfully, the clogged drain was discovered and the clog was removed before any damage occurred.
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| This drain was clogged, but thankfully, property damage was avoided |
The weather went from horrible to fantastic within a couple of days. Wednesday and Thursday this week were sunny with blue sky. The weather is looking good for the week ahead, so get your clubs out and go golfing.
