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Storm threats to golf courses are unpredictable. Sometimes the forecast provides plenty of advance notice but the storm fizzles out, other times the amount of rain and overall impact far exceed anything forecasted and the course ends up underwater. For two North Carolina courses – Asheville Municipal Golf Course in Asheville and UNC Finley Golf Club in Chapel Hill – the latter scenario became an unfortunate reality. I visited both golf courses this year to learn more about their experiences dealing with storm damage and to share some of the lessons to hopefully help other golf courses prepare for similar situations.

When the Forecast Falls Short

Asheville Municipal braced for Hurricane Helene’s arrival in September of 2024, only to be overwhelmed by flooding no one could have imagined. Helene caused catastrophic damage to the course when the Swannanoa River overflowed its banks, submerging most of the front nine and ripping through greens, tees, bunkers and cart paths. The storm destroyed buildings and left major damage to the course’s infrastructure. Director of golf course maintenance Matt Dierdorff and his team had prepared, but the impact of the storm was far beyond what anyone expected.

The golf course maintenance team at UNC Finley also prepared for Helene in 2024, but the Chapel Hill area was spared the worst from that storm. However, just 10 months later, Tropical Storm Chantal caught the entire central North Carolina region off guard by dropping more than a foot of rain in less than 24 hours. Interim head superintendent Jacob Campbell was met with massive flooding the following morning when he and his team tried to access their secondary maintenance building located in a low-lying area next to nearby Morgan Creek, which had overflowed its banks. The storm also caused flooding throughout the golf course that damaged irrigation controllers, cart paths and many of the newly renovated bunkers, while numerous trees fell victim to Chantal’s strong winds.

A key takeaway from both these events is that a response plan and storm preparations need to be in place long before a potentially damaging storm appears in the forecast. Forecasts are extremely useful, but storms can stall, shift or strengthen without warning so you need to always be ready. This is especially true if your course has a history of flooding.

It’s important to note that storm damage doesn’t always come from hurricanes or tropical systems. A thunderstorm that lingers overhead or suddenly intensifies can cause as much trouble as a named storm, and the frequency of intense single-day rain events in the U.S. has been increasing in recent years. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Nationwide, nine of the top 10 years for extreme one-day precipitation events have occurred since 1995.” More than ever, it’s important for golf courses to expect the unexpected when it comes to heavy rain and to prepare accordingly.

"More than ever, it’s important for golf courses to expect the unexpected when it comes to heavy rain and to prepare accordingly."

Preparations In and Around the Shop

When it comes to the maintenance shop, a few simple precautions go a long way. It may not take a major flood to cause serious damage, so it’s worth taking these basic steps to be prepared:

  • Keep lithium batteries, chargers and battery-powered tools off the floor as they can catch fire or otherwise be destroyed when submerged. This is a growing concern for golf courses as more electric equipment is being used.

  • Store fuel, chemicals and fertilizer in elevated, protected areas to avoid loss and potential environmental impacts.

  • Safeguard records and computer systems with backups.

  • Routinely check and maintain drainage systems around the shop. Sometimes all it takes is a clogged catch basin to trigger a flood.

  • Remove unsafe trees and limbs around the shop and keep loose items stored outdoors to a minimum to reduce hazards during high winds.

  • Keep a comprehensive inventory of equipment, materials and supplies that are stored in the maintenance facility. Support the documentation with photographs to facilitate insurance claims in the event of storm damage.

  • Keep “first-response” items like chainsaws, gas cans, tow straps, backhoes or skid steers ready to go.

  • Have a plan to access water if the irrigation system is damaged or inoperable. Following a storm, you may need water to wash silt and debris off turf surfaces that were flooded, or for irrigation and product applications.
     

Access to water was an issue for Asheville Municipal following Helene because they were in a drought before the storm, and drought returned shortly after. They didn’t have the ability to water with their irrigation system for six weeks, but they didn't lose any turf because a course down the road provided them with totes full of water out of their pond so they could fill up their sprayer for watering and critical product applications. “Now, we always keep a tote of water filled up at the shop – just in case,” said Dierdorff.

As a golf course superintendent in New Jersey during both Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012, I learned a few important lessons when it came to storm preparedness, especially about losing power for extended periods. Following Superstorm Sandy, we had no electricity for two weeks. Here are a few questions you should have an answer to in case the lights go out:

  • How will you pump gas for utility vehicles or trucks? 

  • Can you still irrigate, spray, mow and perform other critical turf management tasks?

  • What’s the procedure for opening large overhead garage doors at the maintenance facility without power?

  • How do you keep track of employee work hours if your office computers are down?

  • What’s your plan for getting the lights, irrigation pumps and other critical items running?

  • Do you have access to generators and how much stuff can they power?

  • How will you communicate with staff if cellular networks aren’t working?

  • If your power stays on but many in your area lose theirs, is your course willing and able to help staff, golfers or neighbors until power returns?

Preparations on the Course

A golf course is at the mercy of Mother Nature during a storm, but there are a few ways to reduce the potential impacts:

  • Keep irrigation controllers and other critical infrastructure like the pump station out of low-lying areas if at all possible. It is usually easier to relocate or raise these features than to deal with the impact of losing them during a storm. 

  • Check and maintain drainage basins and outlets regularly.

  • Keep up with tree work to minimize storm-related limb and debris cleanup.

  • Turn off power to the irrigation system if a storm is anticipated, especially components that may become submerged. 

  • If time and conditions allow, make preventative plant protectant and growth regulator applications in case you can’t mow or spray for a while.

  • Ensure spillways and overflow inlets are open and water features or irrigation ponds are pumped down to hold as much stormwater as possible.

  • Bring course accessories inside if time and conditions allow. 

  • Have a plan to pump out flooded areas if needed.

  • Keep an inventory – with supporting photographic documentation – of accessories and other valuable items on the course.

  • If certain key features of your course are prone to damage from flooding, look into design changes or infrastructure improvements that can reduce the risks going forward.

  • Keep chain saws in good running condition and ready to go. Clearing fallen trees is often a first-response task and you don’t want to be counting on a saw that hasn’t been touched since last winter.
     

Developing a Response Plan

The value of having a written storm response plan and distributing it to your management team and other department leaders at the facility cannot be overstated. There are resources available to help golf courses develop a disaster response plan and prepare for hurricanes, as well as best practices for keeping material storage areas safe from disasters that are covered in most of the state BMP guides developed by the GCSAA. Here are a few key items that should be covered in every storm response plan:

  • Have a plan for evacuating the property and for assessing conditions after a storm. Only essential, properly qualified management or staff should stay on property and/or initially return to assess damage.

  • Have outdoor cameras or a system for monitoring conditions during a storm so you know what to expect when you return. 

  • Don’t allow anyone to remain on the property alone during a severe storm or in the aftermath. There can be many hazards present.

  • Keep a list with you of key contacts and have prearranged assignments for each manager and staff member during storm response and recovery.

  • Understand the requirements of your insurance policy and what will be needed as far as documenting cleanup and recovery costs. Take plenty of photos as well.

  • Coordinate potential contract services like tree work or debris removal ahead of time.

  • Train staff on chain saws, wood chippers or any other storm-recovery equipment they may use. You don’t want staff using critical equipment for the first time after a storm has already happened. 

  • Take home a truck with some basic tools and saws that may be needed to clear trees or debris to access the maintenance shop or golf course.

  • After a storm, take time to evaluate what went well and what didn’t, so you’re better prepared for the next one.

At UNC Finley, Campbell maintains a checklist of critical items, tasks and assignments so that there is no confusion during a storm response. “There can be a lot going on and it’s easy to lose track of what’s been taken care of and what remains to be done. A simple checklist can make all the difference,” said Campbell.

One challenge for Asheville Municipal in the aftermath of Helene was contacting staff because cellular service was down. “That became the priority immediately after the storm,” said Dierdorff. “The golf course wasn't nearly as important as getting in contact with everyone and making sure they and their families were OK. We started working about 10 days after Helene hit, with the understanding that if a staff member had something to take care of, they were free to come and go as needed.”

Taking the time to build a strong network and fostering good relationships with nearby courses, vendors and municipal departments can really pay off after a storm. I’ve seen some amazing instances when local courses and industry partners have come to the aid of courses that got hit hard by storms. Golf course maintenance is a close-knit industry and there are also several disaster relief funds maintained by the GCSAA and local superintendents association chapters that can help on the road to recovery. Both the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association and the GCSAA provided assistance to Asheville Municipal.

Recovery Starts With Your People

Cleaning up after a storm is about more than clearing debris and getting water off the course. All around Asheville, Helene left such widespread devastation that recovery became a community effort. Dierdorff’s staff and colleagues at the course worked with other city departments, prioritized critical areas, and repurposed the destroyed front nine to help emergency management officials during the response. Throughout the storm’s aftermath, Dierdorff kept a big-picture perspective. “Whether it's your staff, your community or your golfers, it's important to help each other first,” he said. “You'll know when it's time to start putting the course back together – that can't happen until people put their lives back together.” According to Dierdorff, it's also important to educate your staff on what aid is available to them personally, should they ever run into a devastating situation at home.

In my own experience in New Jersey, some of the most meaningful things we did after Superstorm Sandy were related to helping our staff and their families. Clearing trees from our clubhouse staff’s home driveways so they could get out for food and supplies and providing a place to charge cell phones and get some heat and hot food for golfers, neighbors and our colleagues was a big deal. When disaster strikes, your people are the priority.

Lessons for Every Superintendent and Golf Course

For Jacob Campbell at UNC Finley, Tropical Storm Chantal put him to the test shortly after the 24-year-old took the helm as interim head superintendent. Campbell and his maintenance team learned a lot in the process. “The course and our shop took a beating from Chantal in July, but we’ve come a long way since that day,” he said. A solid response plan made the difference at UNC Finley and the lessons learned from Chantal will serve both the club and Campbell well in the future.

At Asheville Municipal, the back nine was reopened relatively quickly after Helene and provided a much-needed place for residents to escape for a few hours of golf. When it became apparent that the planning, funding and reconstruction of the front nine would take a while, the decision was made to convert it temporarily to a disc golf course to generate revenue. Dierdorff and his maintenance team pivoted and helped with the creation of the new disc golf course, designed in collaboration with a professional disc golf player. It opened in August of 2025 and is providing an interim recreational space for the community until the remainder of the Donald Ross-designed golf course can be brought back into service.

Storms will always have some element of unpredictability, but how a golf course responds to them should not. Don’t trust forecasts alone – assume any storm can bring major impacts and build storm readiness into everyday routines. Training staff and working with colleagues in all departments at your course to develop a storm response plan will ensure everyone knows what needs to be done and how to keep safety first. Employees are potentially leaving families at home with no power and with storm-damaged property, so do everything you can to support your people – they can’t help the golf course if they can’t put their own lives back together.

"Storms will always have some element of unpredictability, but how a golf course responds to them should not."

It’s also worth acknowledging that even with all the right preparations and planning, sometimes there is nothing you can do. At no time was this more evident than in Asheville on September 27, 2024. “As far as preparations went, we did pretty good,” said Dierdorff. “We did everything we could, locked the doors and hoped for the best. But nothing we did could really have prevented the damage that happened.”

When it comes time to get back to work on the course after a damaging storm, golfers will need to understand what to expect and that it can take a while for conditions to return to normal. Golf course superintendents can’t control the weather, but they can control how prepared they are when the next storm hits.