Rain, floods hit Belmar Golf Club, Trosper Park

Record rainfall proved more of a hazard for golf courses than the dozen or more tornados that touched down in central Oklahoma Wednesday.  

Belmar Golf Club in Norman received six inches of rain in six hours to go with the four inches it received Tuesday. That resulted in massive flooding throughout the course.

As of 2 p.m. Thursday, about 1/3 of the course was still flooded while rains were predicted to begin again within the hour. Workers, including five volunteers from Sam’s Club that brought gloves and water, were clearing debris that floated in, including telephone poles.
 
Rushing water collapased a wrought iron fence and knocked a six-hoot hole in the 14th green. All sand traps will have to be rebuilt. The course owner Toby Keith’s annual charity event on May 16 that benefits the OK Kids Korral.

Eight hours of rainfall flooded Trosper Park Golf Course, which also narrowly avoided a tornado that skirted the property. The course had to cancel the second day of the Oklahoma Class 2A Girls State Championship.  

The course has no ponds but has a creek that winds through it and most of the course bridges were under water, including one that normally rests 30 feet above the water level, according to director of golf Mark Galloway.