(yourhoustonnews.com) The only good news to come from this year’s historic drought affects just a small percentage of people: golfers. “A guy that doesn’t hit the ball that squarely, maybe hits a slice, all of a sudden he may be getting 30 yards longer drives. It may affect his score by three or four shots a round easily,” said Mike Griswold, Managing Partner of Timber Creek Golf Club in Friendswood. Everyone and everything else is suffering in the dryness and heat. Bay Forest Golf Course in La Porte uses reclaimed water or “grey water” which isn’t restricted, to try to keep the grass alive. Even so, the irrigation system can’t keep the 170-acre golf course wet enough. Bay Forest General Manager Alex Osmond said they only water the greens, fairways and tees. The rough is cracking. Trees are dying on the 18-hole course. Timber Creek in Friendswood has 27 holes spread over 316 acres. “We’re really taking a hit as far as the trees are concerned,” Golf Course Superintendent Andy Coz said. He’s been working in golf for 34 years, 24 in the Houston area, and this year is the toughest ever, he said. He is permitted to draw a limited amount of water out from Clear Creek. “In June I used about a fifth of that permit,” Coz reported. “I had to add water to a couple of lakes just to keep the fish alive.” In nearby Pasadena, Municipal Golf Course Director Jon Cutshall said the lack of rain has been a big problem, but it was also the wind and an early summer that made it worse. “I think the reason they (lakes) dried up was it got hot real early. You’re talking about April and May when we were having tremendous heat for that time. It was only in the 90’s, but the wind was blowing 30 miles per hour almost every day. That just took the water right out of anything out in the open.” READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE>>> |