Hole 5

The weather for the week has been terrible, until today. In the last six days, Sandpines has received 6 inches of precipitation according to the rain gauge. That total does not count the 4 inches of snow, just the melted snow in the gauge. After all that moisture, the golf course is very playable after just a few hours of drying time this morning.

Hole 9 on 3/13/12

Tuesday morning was quite a surprise. Florence residents woke up to between 3-6 inches of snow (I have heard up to 8 inches, and by next week those stories may be embellished to a foot). At Sandpines, I measured 4 inches. Jerry Waite, the assistant superintendent, has worked at Sandpines for 20 years, and Tuesday morning was the most snow he had ever seen on the golf course. As we ventured around the golf course, it was obvious the weight of the heavy snow had taken its toll on several trees and hundreds of limbs. Although the snow was beautiful, it created quite a bit of work. The majority of our time on the golf course this week was spent clearing downed trees and limbs. The bunkers were also a mess. Most bunkers had severe washouts. The majority of the branches and downed trees in play have been dealt with, but there are many more to deal with on the outer lying areas of the course.

Cart path between 6 green and 7 tees

Cart path between 12 green and 13 tees