Golf pros across Maine were in a euphoric state last week as a stretch of good weather took a little of the sting out of an unusually wet June that took a financial toll as golfers stayed away.
“It was the worst June I’ve seen in my 30 years,” said Bangor Municipal golf pro Rob Jarvis. He added that former Muni pro Brian Enman said it was the worst he had witnessed in 50 years.
“The hard part for us is we were smashing records earlier this spring with the amount of play on the course. And then it ground right to a halt,” Jarvis said.
Matt Madore, the pro at the Presque Isle Country Club, said there has been a decline in greens fees and “overall play in general.” He estimated golf rounds were down approximately 20 percent.
“But, fortunately for us, we probably have the best draining course in the state. We can get a two or three-inch storm and, the next morning, there won’t be remnants of standing water anywhere,” Madore said.
He added that there has been a big surge in July already thanks to the better weather.
Golfers have been flocking to the courses all over the state.
“We had 140 golfers on the Fourth of July, and we typically get 20 because everyone goes away to their camps or they go on vacation,” said Madore, who already has a sold-out field for the 56th Spudland Open Amateur Tournament on July 22-23.
Jarvis said he didn’t have any tee times available on Friday until 6 p.m. because of the high volume of golfers.
He estimated that 300 rounds were going to be played, while 250 rounds is considered good.
“When we’ve had good weather, we’ve had 280 to 300 rounds played per day,” said Jarvis. “How can I not be optimistic?”
Shane DelMonaco, who works in the pro shop and has been a member of the grounds crew at the St. Croix Country Club in Calais, said the course doesn’t drain as well as others because it is built on clay.
“One player told me it was the most rain we have had on the course in two decades,” said DelMonaco. “But even though we have taken a beating [from the weather], May and June [participation] were up from last year.”
One of the primary reasons was the success of Chris Taylor’s annual fundraising tournament, which raises money for the Blue Devil Fund that serves several charities in the area.
The pros have had to keep an eye on the condition of their courses in regards to the use of golf carts.
The pros certainly didn’t want the carts to get stuck in the soggy grass or damage the course.
Pat Kowker, the pro at the Portland Country Club in Falmouth, said they have been able to keep carts on the course the vast majority of the time.
“But we did have a couple of days when we had to ban the use of carts even though we try not to do that,” said Kowker.
DelMonaco said St. Croix Country Club has had days where carts were banned in the morning but the ban was lifted in the afternoon because the course had dried out.
Jarvis said carts have been in play most of the time at Bangor Municipal, although there were at least five days without carts due to the wet course.
If there was a positive created by June’s rain, the golf courses are plush and green according to the pros.
“It is definitely green out there from all the water,” said Kowker. “It has been a weird and interesting season, for sure.”
DelMonaco said the St. Croix Country Club course can get extremely dry and brown in late July and in August, “but I don’t think that’s going to happen this year.”
Madore said the Presque Isle Country Club is in fantastic shape. “Much better than last year,” he said.
Jarvis said he feels sorry for the golfers who couldn’t play golf in June due to the weather, but there is still a lot of golf to be played this summer and fall.
“I have to remain positive. In my 30 years, I have seen all kinds of weather. You just have to learn from it. In the budget process, you have to account for the potential of bad weather,” Jarvis said. “We’re just going to keep plugging away and keep up with the golf course. Our grounds crew is doing a phenomenal job. The course is in excellent shape.”
