How a Golf Staff Turned a Flood Into a Success Story

On Wednesday, September 16, Head Golf Professional Abby Parsons, PGA, and General Manager Jim Murphy, PGA, were at the Southwest PGA Section Championship watching Director of Golf Travis Moore play. When the rain started, they didn't think much of it.

Then she got a text: her staff back at the club had to call everyone off the course because of lightning. Parsons checked in with Director of Agronomy Mike Molton, and they agreed to close the course for the day.

"I really didn't think that much of it," she shared. "I was like, okay, perfect. It's fine."

About an hour later, the photos and videos started coming in. The club had taken about 4 inches of rain in a very brief period.

"There was water in the bag room and in the hallway outside the golf shop, and the ceiling was leaking," Parsons said. "The cart barn had almost a foot and a half of standing water."

Members were sending videos, too, of water rushing across the course. "You could barely see any grass. That's when I realized, this is not good."

The timing made it worse. The men's member-guest was set to start that Friday.

Assistant General Manager Mike Lyon wasted no time. He called the remediation team, and they arrived Wednesday afternoon to set up their equipment. By Thursday morning, the clubhouse was already drying out. Parsons, Murphy and Moore drove the course to see what they were dealing with, and the damage was significant. Every bunker had been flooded, and sand, silt and debris covered the property. A wash that's normally empty was packed with sand and debris, and one bunker needed to be completely renovated. Still, the fairways, greens and tees held up better than feared.

So the team sprang into action and came together to develop a plan. They decided to keep the member-guest but shorten it from two days to one. From there, it was all hands on deck.

The effort started before the rain even let up. The outside services staff did everything they could on the day of the storm to protect the bag room and cart barn from damage. Then Rob, the club's 23-year-old outside services supervisor, came in without being asked. He cleaned up the carts and the cart barn and made sure the bag room was in good shape.

"Not a single bag was damaged, which was huge," Parsons said.

Maintenance Supervisor Bill Hetzel and his crew pitched in as well. Mike Molton's agronomy team worked around the clock to clear sand, silt and debris and get the fairways, greens and tees ready. They couldn't get to the bunkers in time, so the club made them ground under repair and gave everyone free relief. "Nobody complained about that," she said.

The restoration company took down its equipment for the tournament and the wedding the club hosted Sunday, then put it back up afterward. "Like nothing even happened," Parsons shared.

Part of the club's renovated kitchen had to close because of water intrusion from above. Executive Chef Brandon Smith and the food and beverage team still served breakfast, lunch and hors d'oeuvres. "We told the players it would be a lot more limited than they're used to, but I don't think it was," Parsons said. "They did a great job in a small area."

Parsons and Moore also emailed every entrant with refund information and the new format. About eight teams canceled, which meant re-flighting, re-handicapping and redoing all the pairings. "Always fun with a member-guest," she said.

Saturday went off without a hitch.

"It was a complete success. We actually had no bumps in the road," Parsons said. "The membership was super supportive and very grateful that we were still able to do it."

She credits Murphy for keeping the staff steady. "I've never seen him overwhelmed or stressed out. If I was a general manager in his shoes, I would be very overwhelmed."

But it was a team effort from top to bottom.

"There wasn't one single person that did everything. Everybody in their own department stepped up," Parsons shared. "Our team is very family-like. Nobody came across like it was the end of the world. We all just put our heads down and gave each other high fives along the way."