Extreme wet weather plagues Nova Scotia golf courses

Some Nova Scotia golf courses are struggling to recoup their losses after parts of the province were rocked by historic flooding during what is usually their busiest season.

Courses in the Halifax area were drenched by more than 250 millimetres of rain in a span of several hours last month, flooding much of the province. The extreme weather event was followed by multiple rainstorms.

“It’s the wettest the course has ever been,” said Bobby Marriott, pro-shop manager at Granite Springs Golf Club in Bayside, about 30 kilometres west of Halifax.

Marriott says the course is still experiencing the effects of the record rainfall in July. 

He says staff are usually begging for rain at this point of the summer because of past droughts, but they’ve had so much this year they’ve had to close several times.

“You don’t make that money up,” he said. “That’s just the way it is.”

The closures have also put a strain on staff who are losing work, Marriott said. He says luckily the course has been packed on nice days.

Indian Lake Golf Course in Hatchet Lake is in a similar situation.

John Michaluk, the course’s assistant manager, said they have spent tens of thousands of dollars to repair damage from extreme weather this summer.

“Lots of different damage and summer is not even over,” Michaluk said.

He says following the rain, the clubhouse flooded, electrical equipment was fried, cart paths needed to be repaired and the irrigation system needed to be washed out.

Staff who have worked at the golf course since it opened 27 years ago say they’ve never seen weather like this, Michaluk says.

Bookings are down about 15 per cent, he says.

“July and August were up to almost like 300 millimetres of rain just here,” Michaluk said. “So I mean, that’s more than an entire summer’s worth.”

The Nova Scotia government predicts rainfall in the province will increase by 10 per cent by the end of the century, boosting the odds of overloading wastewater systems.

It’s unclear how golf courses can prepare if extreme weather events become more common.

“I don’t know what else we can do at this point,” Marriott said. “I mean, we’ve been doing everything.”