Record precipitation hits Bavaria’s golf clubs
Bernhard Langer’s birthplace Diedorf-Anhausen was also one of those affected by the extreme storms in Bavaria at the weekend: some of the village’s residents had to be evacuated after two dams burst. In fact, the two fish ponds (pictured), which are located in the immediate vicinity of GC Augsburg, were also involved: They could no longer withstand the rainfall, burst their banks and a dam collapsed. “240 liters of rainfall per square meter over the weekend – that was incredible,” said GC Augsburg club manager Yannick Ludwicki. Due to the flooding of the fish ponds, the access road to the golf club was also no longer passable.
BGV has to cancel three championships
The Bavarian Golf Association had to cancel the Bavarian Championships for the AK 50 at GC Augsburg as well as the Bavarian Championships for the AK open at Golfpark Gut Häusern and the AK 65 at GC Höslwang. “We have never before had to cancel tournaments completely in three regions of Bavaria that are relatively far apart,” said Heidrun Klump, Managing Director of the Bavarian Golf Association. “We generally try to hold all tournaments in at least a shortened form.” But that was out of the question last weekend. “In fact, we will probably have to prepare for such extreme weather events in the future,” Klump concludes. The Bavarian Golf Association informed the member clubs immediately at the beginning of the week about the compensation options of the Bavarian State Sports Association, “although these only apply to its members and thus the non-profit registered clubs.”
When the sun shone again on Monday, the greenkeepers at GC Augsburg immediately began the first maintenance work. “We hadn’t mowed since Wednesday,” explains club manager Ludwicki. In many Bavarian golf clubs, the clean-up work has now also begun. Bunkers have to be pumped out and paths made passable again. Especially when gravel stones from the paths are washed into the fairways, driving on them with normal fairway mowers is problematic.
Remove sludge immediately
“It is important that the layer of mud that occurs during flooding is flushed off the greens first,” advises Dr. Gunther Hardt, expert and surveyor for golf courses, to golf course operators. “The layer must be brushed out of the greens in any case to prevent compaction.” Once these have been processed, mud must also be flushed from the fairways “to prevent a barrier layer from forming and the surfaces from compacting.” The longer the layer of mud covers the grass, the longer the plants are prevented from photosynthesizing, and after around three days, says Hardt, “the grasses – depending on the variety – die.”
In any case, there was no time at GC Augsburg to think long and hard about how to proceed. The international youth tournament Bernhard Langer Youth Trophy under the patronage of Bernhard Langer is already scheduled for next weekend. And the pitch should be in top condition.
