Update from Beaver on storm damage at Bay Hill
If the Arnold Palmer Invitational is going to run into the next week, then “Arnold Palmer Week” at the Golfdom Daily will as well!
I just got off the phone with Matt Beaver, superintendent at Bay Hill, to discuss the intense storm that hit Orlando yesterday, causing the final round to get postponed to today. (I was already back in Kansas by then, so no photos from me this time — sorry! But the PGA Tour has some pics up here.)
“It depends on who you ask, but we had 50- to 60-mile-per-hour gusts out there. That’s pretty wild during a tournament, with everything up on the golf course.
We lost a couple trees, but nothing that affected play. One TV tower fell over, but luckily, we don’t have to deal with that. A bunch of boards were blown down, leaves, branches…
There was a tornado warning that popped up at one point. We got everyone inside right away, kept everyone safe.
As far as the rain itself, we got 1.3, 1.4 inches in the rain gauge. This golf course drains really well. We were almost completely dry between the ropes by last night. We mowed fairways, tees and greens this morning.
Today it’s going to be a cool, windy day. But a good day — no rain.”