Eagle Point superintendent: Storm caused more damage than expected

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The Wells Fargo Championship got off to a bumpy start this morning, after heavy storms delayed the tournament three times.

Ground crews were out at 4:00 a.m. to wait out the storm. Once they got the all clear around 8:15 a.m., they immediately got to work trying to get things back in order before the start of day two.

During a press conference this morning, Eagle Point Golf Course superintendent Craig Walsh said damage was a little more extensive then they thought they would see.
There was some bunker and cart path damage but said crews pretty much have all that repaired. Walsh says more than inch and a half of rain fell over a short period time so obviously they had a lot of water on the fairways and green.

They brought out a squeegee to try and absorb the water off the turf.

“Any day we have rain around here prepares us here because when it rains here, it rains so this doesn’t compare to last Monday, the 7 inches and what they had to repair to get the golf course ready for the tournament but like I said it did a little more damage than we thought,” Walsh said.

The rain came in during high tide so there is still plenty of standing water.

Walsh says the wet ground will make it easier for players to sink in some shots, although as we go toward a lower tide and see some sunshine and wind later on that will help dry things out.