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Show Rainy weather sinks local golf hopes f"1 ' f Mi) w ; ' r J i By JACK FOR1SKA Staff Writer DAVIS COUNTY As the first ray of light floats across the eighteenth green at the Bountiful City golf course, a robin gobbles up a worm forced from his hole by excess ex-cess moisture. And, any Bountiful golfer will likely tell you, all this rain is for the birds. Spring rains 11 and one-quarter inches since the beginning of April--have Davis County golfers grumbling grumbl-ing and golf course officials scrambling, in order to make ends meet. Weekend rains have cost courses thousands of dollars in green fee and golf cart revenues, while avid golfers have been puttering putt-ering around the house. Unlike their counterparts to the south (Salt Lake County) who used reserves for new course construction, construc-tion, however, efficient rainy day planning has kept Davis County courses afloat. Davis Golf Course Pro Brad Stone said they have lost somewhere in the vicinity of $20,000 in green fee revenue. However, Stone also said, "We've always taken a stance to watch for this and we're OK. We realized that this could happen." Bountiful pro, Scott Whittaker, reiterates this and says that thanks to Bountiful City Administrator, Tom Hardy, they will have enough money to carry them through also. Hardy was instrumental in setting up a reserve fund and according to Whittaker, "We all think it was a pretty good idea now that this is happening." He estimates their revenues are down $40,000. Mike Bicker, the pro at West Bountiful, says that they too are weathering the storm. "We're only nine holes and we only lose it half as fast as the big courses." Bicker says they were more worried about the drought than the loss of revenue from heavy rains. However, West Bountiful is the only course that is still suffering from the rain. Because the course is located at the bottom of the valley Bicker said, "We are still real wet and we haven't been able to dry out." Everyone we talked to said as it stands now some long range programs pro-grams or purchases may be set back but user fees will remain the same. Nonetheless, continued rain could change all this. Whittaker said if rainy weather continued throughout the summer then Bountiful Boun-tiful would not be able to dip into reserve funds for next year. "If it continues on through the summer, then we would have to raise fees. We are hoping it won't work out that way, but the first two days in June are normally blockbusters for us and we lost .them both." Bountiful Boun-tiful received 1.13 inches of rain the first two days of June155 percent of normal for the entire month. Whittaker says that because they operate at peak capacity all the time they cannot work additional golfers on, in order to recoup losses. Since golf courses are run solely on user fees, this puts them at a distinct disadvantage. West Bountiful just announced plans to expand to 18 holes and Bicker says that even though they are wet now, "In a couple of days this course will be better than it's ever been. I've never seen it this lush," he said. This seems to echo the sentiments sen-timents of everyone. Every pro the Clipper talked to said their respective respec-tive courses were more green and lush than they have ever been. Whittaker said, "Conditions are ideal, no one's been out on the course. We're just trying to keep up with the mowing." Because of the lack of activity, greens that normally normal-ly would be scarred from early season play on damp ground are untouched un-touched and seeding programs have been able to flourish. Even though weather forecaster Mark Eubank said, "The drought is over, no question about it," he feels that Utah golfers can rest easy. "It is my personal opinion the rest of the year will be close to normal," he said. This contradicts forecasters at the National Weather Service who are calling for the next 90 days to be wetter than usual. In order to further the cause of "birdies" instead of fattening up the birds, let's hope Mark is right. Guy Childs of West Jordan savors the flavor of a long awaited good day of golf at Bountiful Golf Course. Also pictured Ted Petersen and Jerry Harrison, both of Bountiful, (Clipper photo by Jack Foriska) |