As if Sioux Links area courses hadn't had enough, another round of storms dumped torrential rainfalls on most of Southwest Minnesota. It turns out that no course was spared as a wide band of storms left most courses with five inches up to twelve inches. Dacotah Ridge Golf Club benefited from a good drainage system as did Savannah Oaks and Marshall Golf Club.
"We received five inches of rain in a mere six hours," said Marshall Golf Club Manager Emily Roering.
The Redwood River stayed inside its bank through Lynd where Savannah Oaks course is and down to Marshall. Jason Gunnare Course Superintendent at Savannah Oaks said: "That is the highest I have ever seen the Redwood River." Other courses further down didn't fare as well. Redwood Falls Golf Club had massive flooding as most of the course tracks along the river.
The worst hit courses were Tracy Country Club and Slayton Country Club. We heard a rumor that Slayton received between seventeen and twenty inches of rain, eleven inches on Tuesday, July 3rd alone.
Jim Munson who serves on the board at Tracy Country Club stated: "I have never seen that much water in the 25 years that I have lived in Tracy."
Jim is also the Course Manager at Savanah Oaks and had a difficult time even leaving Tracy. Nearly every road out of town was under water so he managed to take back rounds to get out. Tracy Country Club had a lot of erosion, torn up asphalt and undermining of cart paths. It forced them to postpone their biggest event of the year the member/guest tournament. They were lucky to have an army of volunteers to help them reopen.
Tracy Country Club, Tracy MN
- Received between 10 to 12 inches of rain
- Water undermined golf paths
- Flooded bridges but no damage to them
- Lots of debris
Marshall Golf Club, Marshall MN
- 5 inches in 6 hours
- 10 inches in past 2 weeks
- Closed 3 different times and back 9 was closed the day we visited
- No substantial damage
Savannah Oaks, Lynd MN
- Over 8 inches in 2-day span
- Basins and low areas were full of standing water that slowly drained back to the Redwood Falls River
- Closed 2 and half days
- Continuous cart paths limited days they were closed
- No substantial damage
"I've seen water coming out of the side of hills that I have never seen before" Lance Tykwinski course Superintendent at Tyler Golf Club.
Tyler Golf Club, Tyler MN
- 15 inches of total rain in the last three weeks
- Flooded 4 or 5 times total
- The holes on the lake bed had the most flooding and the most damage
- Lots of standing water
- Some reseeding will need to be done
Read our prior story on the flooding in South Dakota and Iowa.
How much rain did your course receive? Comment below.