Area golf courses take a soaking

Plenty of good tee times are available this week at area golf courses, but rafts are needed instead of carts.

The weeklong deluge has drastically reduced the number of rounds played and submerged a few courses in low-lying areas.

"We're going to have a canoe race this afternoon," Council Fire head professional Richard Rebne joked. "It's a typical 8-inch kind of flood where the range fills up so that you can only see the top of the flags."

Standing water on 10 of 18 holes is preventing play at Council Fire. But all of its greens are above the flood plane; the water is consuming fairways and a couple of tee boxes. The course could open as soon as Thursday, or about 24 hours after the Chickamauga Creek crests, which would allow time for cleanup.

"All of the courses in our area are going to have some kind of problem with this much rain," said Hunt Gilliland, Council Fire's director of golf. "I don't think any club is immune to this kind of rain."

The two-day rain total at the Chattanooga airport was 6.78 inches as of Monday afternoon, and the seven-day total was 9.51 inches according to David Glenn, chief meteorologist for WTVC-TV.

Brown Acres, Valleybrook and Creeks Bend -- which have had entire holes submerged in previous floods -- are faring better than expected.

"We're not under water yet, but I imagine we will be tomorrow," said Creeks Bend owner Buddy Templeton. "There's no real damage, just a little loss of revenue."

But Brown Acres, Brainerd and Valleybrook were closed Monday because of the soggy and sloppy conditions.

"It's going to kill the week here," golf manager Wayne Orr said of Brown Acres. "We had such a good start to September, and this puts a damper on everything."