Hurricane Irma recently wreaked havoc on the Caribbean and Florida before weakening and heading up through Georgia and Alabama. I paid a visit to coastal Georgia and South Carolina a week after the storm to see if it was a repeat performance from last year's Hurricane Matthew.
Thankfully, it only took a short time to see that things were not as bad here as it was last year after Matthew. That being said, there were still plenty of trees on the ground and many coastal facilities took on some storm surge. One week after the storm rolled through the Hilton Head area, it was almost business as usual. There were a few trees down in the area. Every course that I went to was open for play and things seemed pretty normal. I didn't get to visit every course on the island but there were no piles of brush and logs lying about like there was last year.
Further south down the coast. in the Savannah area, there was much more damage to courses from both wind and water. One of the courses I went to still had water on several acres of the back nine as a result of storm surge coming up through the river that runs next to the property. A large collection of pumps had been brought in to get the water off the course since the flood waters covered the onsite pumps causing them to fail. There was also considerable bunker damage to the property thanks to the quick rising flood water. Fortunately, there was no structural damage and the maintenance facility remained dry.
The St. Simmons Island area seemed to be the hardest hit area in my region. There were hundreds of trees down on the island golf courses and some flood damage to one of the courses. I visited the King and Prince Golf Course and got a tour from Assistant Superintendent JB Workman. There were trees down everywhere you looked but a week into the clean up the mess was now mostly in the rough areas. Tree crews were busy removing hanging limbs but it was amazing to see that no houses were hit on this heavily-wooded property. The club hoped to be open within a week even though many stumps and logs will take some time to be removed. This is the second year that this area has had major tree damage.
I spoke to many superintendents throughout Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama and most felt pretty lucky compared to the damage in Florida. There was widespread tree damage in all three states with most courses reporting anywhere from a few trees to 50 trees on the ground. I hope everyone can get through the remainder of hurricane season without any more problems. This area has had plenty of weather-related obstacles over the past three years. Hopefully, 2018 will have a quieter storm season that what we've seen lately.
Thankfully, it only took a short time to see that things were not as bad here as it was last year after Matthew. That being said, there were still plenty of trees on the ground and many coastal facilities took on some storm surge. One week after the storm rolled through the Hilton Head area, it was almost business as usual. There were a few trees down in the area. Every course that I went to was open for play and things seemed pretty normal. I didn't get to visit every course on the island but there were no piles of brush and logs lying about like there was last year.
Further south down the coast. in the Savannah area, there was much more damage to courses from both wind and water. One of the courses I went to still had water on several acres of the back nine as a result of storm surge coming up through the river that runs next to the property. A large collection of pumps had been brought in to get the water off the course since the flood waters covered the onsite pumps causing them to fail. There was also considerable bunker damage to the property thanks to the quick rising flood water. Fortunately, there was no structural damage and the maintenance facility remained dry.
The St. Simmons Island area seemed to be the hardest hit area in my region. There were hundreds of trees down on the island golf courses and some flood damage to one of the courses. I visited the King and Prince Golf Course and got a tour from Assistant Superintendent JB Workman. There were trees down everywhere you looked but a week into the clean up the mess was now mostly in the rough areas. Tree crews were busy removing hanging limbs but it was amazing to see that no houses were hit on this heavily-wooded property. The club hoped to be open within a week even though many stumps and logs will take some time to be removed. This is the second year that this area has had major tree damage.
I spoke to many superintendents throughout Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama and most felt pretty lucky compared to the damage in Florida. There was widespread tree damage in all three states with most courses reporting anywhere from a few trees to 50 trees on the ground. I hope everyone can get through the remainder of hurricane season without any more problems. This area has had plenty of weather-related obstacles over the past three years. Hopefully, 2018 will have a quieter storm season that what we've seen lately.
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| JB Workman stands next to some of the storm debris on the King and Prince Golf Club on St. Simons Island, Georgia, a week after Hurricane Irma. |
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