MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII -- Golfers at Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course, Dec. 1, 2013, were in for a shock of bad weather.
Staff shut down the course temporarily due to heavy rains and lightning at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
Although the surge of rain soaked the area, it was the multiple lightning strikes on top of the course that prompted the initial closure.
“When there is lightning it tends to be further away from the golf course,” said Claudia Rothwell, operations assistant at the golf course. “Since I’ve been working here, I don’t think it’s ever been so close to us to make us shut down.”
Rothwell said once players began reporting flashes of lightning right near the playing greens, the course was promptly closed to wait out the storm. When the lightning cleared a few hours later, officials reopened the back nine holes to players who used carts. The last holes of the course are higher elevation and were dryer despite the rainy weather, Rothwell said.
“Overall the course was soggy,” she said. “There were pretty large puddles, so for safety we closed the front nine holes because they are lower (elevation) and prone to flooding.”
Dec. 1 had the heaviest rainfall during the weekend, with .34 inches, according to figures from to the base’s Meteorology and Oceanography Department. The most amount of rain fell starting at 3 p.m., continuing on for several hours. The volume of rainfall that hit Dec. 1 was approximately 5.9 million gallons of water per square mile. Total rainfall at the base was lower than last year’s through the winter holidays, against expected Hawaii weather patterns, according to the department.
“When we hit the winter season, we usually get more rain and thunder showers,” said Lance Cpl. Andrew Tondini, a forecaster from METOC.
He said in the upcoming days intermittent showers are likely. This month is on track to top rainfall totals previously in November. Tondini said the total rainfall amount for November was 1.41 inches or more than 24 million gallons of water per square mile. The rainfall amount since Dec. 2 has already hit 36 percent of the last month’s total. Rothwell said the golfers are currently playing in wet conditions, but maintenance workers have not needed to use their pumps to siphon water out. The pumps are drain areas to a safer area by the second hole.
By Dec. 2, the Klipper Golf Course staff reopened the entire course for enthusists. Golf tournaments, like the one held for Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367, ran uninterrupted.
The wet weather didn’t impact the golfing strategy for Phillip Collins, with HMLA-367, who was playing in the tournament, Dec. 3.
“There were a couple of places that were still wet but the rest of the course is pretty drained out,” he said. “(The ninth hole) is still pretty wet and the seventh was damp.”
Rothwell said the golf course encourages players to contact the Pro Shop if they notice dangerous conditions or if they have questions. The staff also posts updates about course conditions on their Facebook page.
Golfers may face another reason for a golf course shut down in December — President Barack Obama is planning his annual holiday season trip with stops at MCB Hawaii.