Garland,
There is a difference between ponding on an everyday basis (bad drainage design) and temporary ponding after a 12" rain. If it is always wet, then they didn't provide proper pitch (usually 2-3% minimum) and outlets in the low zones. Pretty simple, water runs downhill....and it needs to be designed that way.
We design course drains for every day storms, maybe in the worst in a typical year, 2 years, or five years. Highways and critical areas are designed for 25, 50 and 100 year events, which I gather a 12" rain is. Its a value judgement given the low budgets of golf courses. If draining for a 2 year storm costs $100K and draining for a 10 year storm costs $400K, in pipe and what not, is that $300K, or $30K per year debt, or $1 per round worth it? Or, do you accept some days being out of play and save the money?
Most courses accept being out of play for a day every once in a while, maybe even 2-3 times per year over the higher construction cost, as a matter of economics. Banks won't lend enough to drain for the worst storm, and there is no critical safety need for it.
I will say that not all gca's understand the actual amount of runoff that comes off a site, and should spend more time sizing pipes to accomodate flow. If you put 4, 6, and 8" pipes everywhere because they usually work, one area might have to drain 2 acres and another 20, and if that bigger area is out of play, its possible the whole course is out of play, and that might be considered less than adequate drainage design.