Eight days straight of overcast skies and rainy weather are enough to depress the heck out of anyone. But perhaps no one, apart from the homeless, has felt as oppressed by the weather as golfers. While some of the zealots among them have braved the showers to squeeze in 18 holes or less, most have hung up their clubs for the past week and a half—in part due to course closings across the Capital Region.
BREC has shut down Santa Maria Golf Course due to backwater from Bayou Manchac, as well as the back nine holes of Beaver Creek Golf Course. Both will reopen when the water recedes; the other five courses remain open when it isn’t raining, spokeswoman Cheryl Michelet says.
Carter Plantation in Springfield hasn’t had a golfer since the day the monsoon-like weather began Jan. 8, when the course hosted just 11 of them. It closed its doors Sunday, referring desperate customers to its sister course The Bluffs on Thompson Creek in St. Francisville. So far this month, the course has sold just 117 rounds—the same number it generally attracts on a single Saturday.
“I’ve been in the golf business for 26 years and I don’t remember a January this cold and wet,” says golf pro Andre Caldwell. “It’s unbelievable.”
Pelican Point, a semi-private club in Gonzales, took the unusual step of closing Thursday and Friday last week after the area took on 10 inches of rain, causing its ponds to overflow. But the course is open now, and 10 golfers braved yesterday’s drizzles and still soggy fairways and greens to play a round. Says golf pro Andres Prieto: “They really like golf.”
Sunny skies are expected to return this weekend, so book those tee times early. Greystone Country Club in Denham Springs for one is planning for a healthy turnout. Although the course is known for its speedy drainage, rounds have been about a tenth of what they usually are in January.
“We had a few people who were literally going stir crazy come out and play, but we’ve been almost deserted because nobody wanted to brave the misery,” says managing partner Ron Menville Jr. “The pent-up demand is huge. People are dying to get back out here.”
