Inside Comments by Steve Turcotte

Two words I never need to hear again: Atmospheric river

Atmospheric river. Two words that we never need to hear around the Pacific Northwest again. I had not heard of that term until a few years ago. And when it hit, I completely understood what it meant.

But this year, lucky us. Not only did we get to hear the term once, we got to suffer through it twice. Lots of rain. Lots of standing water. Lots of flooding. You name it, we had it.

It was brutal for families in the flood zone and brutal for golf courses.  The Green River, Puyallup River and Cedar River all went over their banks and flooded golf courses like Riverbend in Kent and High Cedars in Orting. In fact, one day I was checking online for golf course information and someone was filming High Cedars Golf Course and doing a play-by-play on which holes were under water.

We never know what we are going to get from Mother Nature. I was looking forward to a winter of playing golf but this Atmospheric River just wants to make you pack your stuff and head for a sunnier locale.

I’m not an expert on golf course grass but it can’t be good when flood waters inundate the course and hang around for a while. And it really sucks when it comes to making ends meet, when no one can play golf.

I drove by a couple of golf courses during the floods. It was not a pretty sight. But at least we will give courses like Riverbend credit for keeping things going – with online information saying the driving range and front nine were open while the back nine was under water and closed.

Let’s hope the rest of the winter is better for us folks in the Pacific Northwest and for the golf courses who took a beating from Mother Nature and her Atmospheric River. I don’t know about you, but again, two words I never need to hear again. It’s time to dry out.

• Sometimes you run across things in this business which put a smile on your face. And that was the case when I saw an e-mail a while ago from Mallard Creek Golf Course in Lebanon, Ore. The headline said it all and got my attention – Sale – Beer Buddy Cards. A Beer Buddy Card? A card that will get you beer for your round of golf? Sign me up for that one for sure. Turns out Mallard Creek was selling the five-round Beer Buddy Pinch Cards for $225 and that would get you 18 holes of golf and a beer to go with it. Of course you had to be over 21. And for the non-drinkers the beer could be exchanged for a soda or Gatorade. The punch card is valid seven days a week and expires at the end of next year. One question? Where is mine?

• Very excited to hear the news that the Westport Golf Links project took another step forward. There is hardly anything for golf along the Washington Coast. The course, designed by David McLay Kidd, could be the thing that golf needs on the Washington Coast

Steve Turcotte is editor of Inside Golf Newspaper. He can be reached at sdturcotte@comcast.net.