Hurricane Sandy Means a Second Shortened Golf Season for Some

Puddle Ducky Golf              photo: ©GolfGirlMedia

It was a storm that uprooted massive trees and tore the roofs off buildings. Many quaint coastal communities were inundated and millions of residents... in numerous states... are still without power.

Here in Danbury, CT,  Halloween was postponed... and schools will be closed for the remainder of the week. We've been hauling huge branches from our yards, assessing damage to our homes and assisting neighbors and relatives with their storm-related issues.

Personally, I feel very fortunate; other than a flattened fence and some sheered off shingles, Sandy spared my sturdy centenarian mansion,  and after several trips to the mulch yard my property is largely clear of fallen limbs.

And, I SO appreciate the emails, tweets, texts and phone calls I received from all over the world. Thank you so much for your concern, it means more than you can imagine.

Needless to say, our area golf courses have been impacted by Sandy; flooded fairways and washed out cart paths are unavoidable with a freak Frankenstorm like we saw earlier this week, and many courses remain unplayable. Some that have shut their doors for the remainder of the season.

The crazy/odd/implausible thing is that exactly a year ago, it was an ultra-rare October snowstorm that closed numerous courses across the northeast. Thus 2012 is... for some... the second year in a row that the golf season's been cut short.

What's truly remarkable however, is that so many courses are actually set to open tomorrow... or this weekend... despite being hit hard by Sandy. This has surely meant long hours and herculean efforts on the part of superintendents, greenskeepers and staff... and considering that many of them have substantial storm-related issues to deal with at their own homes... their dedication is beyond commendable.

We're hoping to get a round in sometime in the next few days because, as we said last year at this time as we dug out from the historic snowstorm, the golf season isn't over for us quite yet.