How much rain?

One week ago, from Sunday to Monday, we had the largest rain event of the year, totaling 3.7".  Although this may pale in comparison to what some areas of the country have had to deal with, it still is a quantity that may be difficult to wrap your head around.

So, let's take a look at what 3.7" of rain really means to the course.  There are 27,154 gallons of water per acre inch.  When we multiply this by 3.7" you find that each acre received 100,470 gallons of water.  While the golf course property itself is 237 acres, when we include the surrounding residential area that drains onto the course, we come up with 477 acres.

So, how much water did the golf course have to deal with, either directly, or indirectly with this storm?  Try this number on for size: 477 acres X 100,470 gallons per acre = 47,924,094

That's right, almost 48 million gallons of water were handled by the golf course.  At 8.34 pounds per gallon, that's just under 400,000,000 pounds of water.

Had we asked Dr. Evil this question, it seems unlikely that his answer would have even been close.

Where did this hefty amount of water go?  Obviously, a good bit is absorbed into the soil.  The balance of the water is channeled into our extensive storm sewer system, where it fills the lakes on the course.  Once the ponds and lakes reach capacity, they will overflow into one of two tributaries of the Rancocas Creek, and from there, it is a short trip to the Delaware River.

The great news is that despite all of this rain, we were open with carts less than 24 hours after it stopped.  The golf course had a large drainage system installed when constructed, and we have continued to augment the drainage over the years.  At times like this, the payoff of having a good drainage system, which allows quick access to the course, is clear.