All the extra water hazards at the Barrhead Golf and Country Club are slowly disappearing.
Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time BGCC has experienced high volumes of water on the course, and it probably won’t be the last. However, the maintenance crew is up to par when it comes to clearing the course of unwanted pools of rainwater.
“I’ve seen this before. In the late ’90s, we probably had more rain. June can be a very wet month in this country, I would say the last five to eight years have been abnormally dry for this area, and this year has been abnormally wet. It’s been seen before. There really are no surprises anymore,” said course superintendent Rick Tarasiuk.
July has traditionally been a dry month in the area, said Tarasiuk, however, the rain has stretched further into July than what was expected.
“It is impacting our business side, and we’ve had to postpone one tournament so far. Our green fee traffic has definitely taken a hit,” said Tarasiuk.
Drainage is an important factor that is taken into consideration when a golf course is designed, but it all depends on the region and funds available. For instance, when designing a course in lower-mainland B.C., an extensive drainage system is key to the design and construction.
“The normal procedure for all golf courses is to have drainage, or sub-surface drainage installed in the greens and sand trap areas. The smaller courses around the country won’t typically address the drainage issue as it relates to the fairways until after the course is built,” said Tarasiuk.
The course has seen a higher volume of rainfall since early June, but the maintenance crew at BGCC has been working hard to keep the course playable. Maintaining the manicured look at BGCC, which helped secure a top 10 course ranking in the province, requires mowing on a regular basis.
“It’s not a lot of fun. You just go day in and day out. Sometimes it’s a struggle for the mowers because of the wetness; there can be some damage to the turf in an attempt to keep it cut down. Excluding the greens, we’d run usually about three to four cuts a week, but we’re down to one right now. When the day is right, we push, and we get everyone on a mower that we can, and we aim to get around the course at least once,” said Tarasiuk.
Although there has been a detrimental effect from all the rain, the course still remains playable.
“The golf course is still in good shape and isn’t busted up to any extent despite absorbing about 10 inches of rain before last week,” said Tarasiuk.
BGCC boasts almost four miles of drainage on the fairways. Working in conjunction with the built-in drainage, the crew utilizes strategically place pumps to remove pools or water.
“It takes a while for it all to drain away, and there are factors that come in to play when you have a lot of rain. I’ve seen a whole lot more rainfall in the ’90s through June and July than has fallen this year. At that time, we didn’t have as much drainage installed on the golf course. It was harder then, than it is now. We have technology now that helps us protect the turf from carts when the rain gets heavy,” said Tarasiuk.
Without the dedicated crew at BGCC the course could have been worse off.
“Their spirits are still high, and they still seem to be happy enough when they come to work everyday. A lot of days, they go out there in the rain and get soaked,” said Tarasiuk.
All the rain really isn’t a bad thing for BGCC, and in fact it could be a great thing.
“The rain certainly isn’t bad overall for the golf course, but if we had five windy, sunny days in row, things would be a lot drier. When we do get some sun, everything will be really green,” said Tarasiuk.
