What can a course do to get ready for a hurricane?

[Joel_Stewart]

With 48 to 72 hours notice, is there anything they can do to minimize the impact?

Trees are pretty much toast.  Maybe lower the water level in lakes, take out the pins and rakes.

Sounds bleak.

[Dave Falkner]

trees getting blown down-sounds like a windfall to me

[David Harshbarger]

Maybe stop mowing for a few days, to give the plants the best chance to deal with the storm stress?

[Mike Policano]

Joel,

At our club in NJ, our super put together a list of items to be addressed. All ditches around the property were cleared to allow the rainwater to flow freely, all the drains on the course were checked and trimmed, every loose item was identified for storage, etc.  The course will be closed early tomorrow and on Sunday.

Emergency communications protocol has been established and the backup generator has been tested. Each of the club leaders, super, pro, facilities mgr and club manager have been tending to as many items as can be identified.

I will let you know what happens.

Cheers, Mike

[Mike_Trenham]

Move the tees back as with such low pressure the ball is going fly a mile before the storm.

[Patrick_Mucci]

With 48 to 72 hours notice, is there anything they can do to minimize the impact?


STOP watering.

Trees are pretty much toast.

In Florida, the rocket scientist northerners (read snowbirds or better yet, snowflakes) planted northern trees, ill equiped to handle hurricane winds, all over their golf courses.
Hurricane Wilma blew them all away, leaving pines and palms. 
So what did some of these rocket scientist northerners do, they replanted the northern trees 

Maybe lower the water level in lakes,

Doubtful the authorities would allow you to lower your lake levels in the face of an imminent hurricane.

take out the pins and rakes.

Sounds bleak.

What you can do is learn from it.

Learn where your drainage weaknesses are, structurally and functionally.

If trees are blown away/down, evaluate whether the course is better for it.  If so, don't replace them.

Stop planting flowers all over the golf course (the feminization of golf)

[Don_Mahaffey]

Clean drainage ditches and make sure all your basins have good grates and are free of debries.

Bring in any satellites or other electronics that have a chance of being flooded.

If you have any main line routed through drainage ways, shut your isolation valves. Shut down your pump station and make sure it's weather proof (you'd be amazed how many aren't)

You probably don't have time to do any tree trimming but bring in anything that can blow away...trash cans, pins, junk around your shop...

get lots of ice and beer before the storm hits.

[Joel_Stewart]

Good luck to all.

I'm worried about the tidal surge as well, which they predict could be 10 feet.  At a course like Maidstone, the 8th and 9th could be flooded.

[Tom_Doak]

Joel:

I remember Pete Dye telling me that if they were about to have a hurricane in Jacksonville, they would pump down all the drainage ditches around the golf course into the Intracoastal Waterway and lower the water table to one foot below sea level, so it could absorb all the rain.  But, not many courses have that kind of fail-safe.

[Bill_McBride]

When Hurricane Ivan hit Pensacola Country Club, 3000 trees, mostly pines, were blown down.  The storm surge inundated the low areas of the course, probably two thirds, with salt water.   

We love the new course.   

[Anthony Gray]

  Have good insurance

[Sam Morrow]

When Hurricane Ivan hit Pensacola Country Club, 3000 trees, mostly pines, were blown down.  The storm surge inundated the low areas of the course, probably two thirds, with salt water.   

We love the new course.   

People like you must sit around and watch the north easterners freak out and laugh. You guys get hurricanes skimming you as often as most people buy new shoes.

[Bill_McBride]

When Hurricane Ivan hit Pensacola Country Club, 3000 trees, mostly pines, were blown down.  The storm surge inundated the low areas of the course, probably two thirds, with salt water.   

We love the new course.   

People like you must sit around and watch the north easterners freak out and laugh. You guys get hurricanes skimming you as often as most people buy new shoes.

Agreed, but some hurricanes are more serious than others.    Hopefully Irene winds down quickly. 

[Bruce Katona]

the obstacle with Irene is 65 million people live along its path. 

This August has been very wet, thus the ground can't readily absorb much more water.....winfd and saturated soil causes trees to fall.

Most of us have power lines strung on poles above ground.  The loss of power for an extended period is a major concern.

[Tiger_Bernhardt]

The pros above said it perfectly. Otherwise if the water comes you are f------.

[Anthony_Nysse]

We began preparing with the following 5-6 days ago

-Top of the fuel in all your equipment, then call to have the main tank topped off.
-Check generators, chainsaws, dumptrucks, loaders, chippers to ensure they their hydraulic levels are correct, they’re greased and ready
-Get extra chains for the saws, bars, bar oil, 2 cycle oil, glasses and gloves
-Turn off the pumps in the irrigation room
-Remove the irrigation computer and other computers in the office. At least, copy all your files to a thumb drive
-Make a video of the equipment, office and shop area for insurance purposes
-Edge/trim and check all the main drains throughout the golf course
-Mow everything as late as you can, as it may be a while before you can get back on the turf and mow again
-Spray a growth regulator on all short grass surfaces and possibly even a fungicide. Again, you may not be able to mow for a week and wet, wet, turf and cloudy skies will create a perfect disease outbreak.
-Take in anything that could be a missile-rakes, hazard stakes, teemarkers, pins, trash cans, water coolers,
-As a Supt and Assistant, we would leave property with a chainsaw in our vehicle. We were usually the first back onto property, therefore we may need to clear roads to access the property

Last and maybe and maybe most importantly, notch a few pesky trees that Mr. Smith has had his arms around for years and you’re unable to get approval to remove! 

[Jeff_Brauer]

Anthony, great advice.

RE: Insurance, you would be surprised at what little insurance the actual golf courses have in a typical club or course policy.  The structures are covered, but not the golf course.  So, turf damage, drain pipe repair, etc. etc. etc. are simply not covered.  One club I am aware of had more coverage in case their key personell left or silver was stolen than they did for the golf course.

Tree damage is covered, but only up to a limit, and in a hurricane, that will be exceeded.  If your course is in that kind of area, you should really consider higher limits.

[Joel_Stewart]

Here we go again.  Good luck to all.

[Scott Weersing]

I wonder if the hurricane will do as much damage as the wind storm in June.

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/8115466/pga-tour-play-congressional-resumes-brutal-storm-fans-kept-out

[Bill_McBride]

Anthony, great advice.

RE: Insurance, you would be surprised at what little insurance the actual golf courses have in a typical club or course policy.  The structures are covered, but not the golf course.  So, turf damage, drain pipe repair, etc. etc. etc. are simply not covered.  One club I am aware of had more coverage in case their key personell left or silver was stolen than they did for the golf course.

Tree damage is covered, but only up to a limit, and in a hurricane, that will be exceeded.  If your course is in that kind of area, you should really consider higher limits.

At Pensacola the only insurance coverage we had was for debris removal. 

The most important things to remember during a hurricane - and I've been through a dozen here - are wine, dog food, candles, batteries and toilet paper. 

That's for individuals who hunker down.   Anthony's check list does it for the supers, very well planned disaster response plan.  ASGCA should publish it and pay Anthony a royalty!

[Matthew Essig]

I wonder if the hurricane will do as much damage as the wind storm in June.

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/8115466/pga-tour-play-congressional-resumes-brutal-storm-fans-kept-out

A hurricane will almost always do more damage than a derecho.

[Roger Wolfe]

Short term pain... long term gain!  Goodbye trees... hello better GCA!