PALM DESERT, Calif. — No time is a good time for a tropical storm to dump a year’s worth of rain on the Coachella Valley in just 48 hours. But August might be the least-disruptive time for such a weather disaster to hit desert golf courses. Still, golf course operators face plenty of work in the coming weeks to recover from the rare tropical storm.
“If we have a foursome on the tee sheet right now, it’s a busy day for us,” Brett Draper said Tuesday. He is general manager and COO of Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage. “This is a quiet time of year, a time of year where we do a lot of our construction work not only on the golf course but throughout the club. So the impact to us, it’s as close to zero as possible with regard to play.”
While most of the snowbird membership at Thunderbird did not see the damage from flooding and debris at their private course in Rancho Mirage, it is evident to anyone driving past the course. Thunderbird is one of dozens of desert courses impacted by flooding in various desert washes or runoff from the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains because of Tropical Storm Hilary.
From layouts with a few downed trees to courses with mud and water damage that will take months to repair, Hilary’s impact on desert courses was felt throughout the entire Coachella Valley. But at Thunderbird and other private clubs, it could have been worse.
“I think we had like six golfers,” said Chris Gilley, head pro at La Quinta Country Club which was open for play Tuesday. “So of all the months to do it, this is less effective of the membership. And to be honest, there is no cool-season grass left right now, so the Bermuda grass can probably handle (the weather) better than what we get in the winter.”
Floodwater from Tropical Storm Hilary rushes across Country Club Drive in Rancho Mirage, California. (Photo: Andy Abeyta/The Desert Sun)
The Whitewater Wash, turned into a roaring river of water, mud, tree limbs and palm fronds by Hilary, cuts through four holes at Thunderbird, the fourth, ninth, 10th and 18th. The course also saw mud and debris flow on the course from a spillway at the third hole just off Highway 111.
“It’s a part of having a golf course in the wash,” Draper said. “We will get it cleaned up as quickly as we can and we hope to have everything ready by the end of September, the first of October so we can start the overseed process with the eventual opening of the second Saturday in…
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