WATERLOO - Lousy weather and record flooding have led to a disappointing golf season in Waterloo and Cedar Falls thus far.

But with weather warming up and courses drying out, dimples and divots are coming back in droves.

"Everything's full bore now," Beaver Hills Country Club manager Chad Hoffman said. "The past two days have probably been the busiest of the year."

Virtually every course in the metro area seized operations last week when flood waters inundated courses and roads to courses. Although most courses have re-opened, the high waters claimed one victim.

The Washington Park golf course in Cedar Falls will likely remain out of commission for the remainder of the season.

"Almost all the greens took damage," said Cedar Falls golf course superintendant Dennis Schilling. "The club house is a complete loss, and we lost about a quarter of the maintenance shed."

The course is no stranger to flood damage. It was lost for both the 1993 and 1999 seasons due to flooding, but as was the case with many areas in Iowa, the course had never experienced flooding to this degree.

Schilling's crew had enough foresight from previous floods to evacuate the carts and expensive equipment on Sunday before the waters engulfed the course. But with fairways in need of seeding and no club house, re-opening this year would be nearly impossible.

"We've got a lot of rebuilding to do," said Schilling.

Other courses sustained varying amounts of damage. Schilling said the other two Cedar Falls municipal courses - Pheasant Ridge and Walter's Ridge - never officially closed, but were obviously not being played when residents were fighting back flood water all over the metro area.

None of the public three courses in Waterloo experienced significant damage from the flood waters, according to Waterloo Leisure Services golf course manager James Bolger. The courses closed last Thursday, but re-opened to walking traffic the following day.

"There are a few places with standing water in places where you wouldn't normally see it," said Bolger. "But the tees and greens are in great shape."

Beaver Hills was forced to close last weekend from Thursday through Sunday. While the course itself suffered a fair degree of damage, the bigger issues was accessibility.

"The golf course was probably ready to play, but the roads leading in from all directions were flooded," Hoffman said.

Hoffman said the course was still wet in some spots, making it difficult for the lawnmowers to access certain areas. There are also five large trees that were blown over during the intense storms two weeks ago, just before record flood levels were reached in Waterloo and Cedar Falls.

Beaver Hills had to cancel two events last week and re-opened last Sunday with two holes closed due to standing water. But now the course has re-opened and members are taking their short sticks back to the links.

"The greens are great, and the grass is growing like crazy," Hoffman said. "We should be ready to go for the rest of the year."

Contact Drew Andersen at (319) 291-1418 or drew.andersen@wcfcourier.com.w