Nearby courses on the mend after flooding

Adam Candee

Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 | 9:53 a.m.

When the horn sounds on a golf course to signal an impending thunderstorm, golfers can scramble to take refuge in strategically placed shelters until safety returns.

But when torrential downpours sweep through an area, there is nothing anyone can do to prevent the golf course itself from bearing the crushing effects of nature.

The flooding resulting from massive storms early last week in the Overton and Mesquite areas took its toll on at least one southern Nevada golf course, and it completely wiped out another one a few miles north in Beaver Dam, Ariz.

The Hamilton Ranch Golf Course in Beaver Dam was essentially washed away by the rushing floodwaters. A course employee said Sunday afternoon that Hamilton Ranch will be shut down for at least a few months and its owners are not yet sure if they will choose to rebuild the track at all.

The affordable layout, opened in 1989, was part of the historic Hamilton Ranch Golf Resort and Inn. The inn dates back to the early 1900s, when it was the exact midpoint between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City on the former Highway 91. Fourteen homes in the Beaver Dam area were destroyed by flooding.

A few miles south in Mesquite, the course most adversely hit by the nasty flooding was the CasaBlanca Golf Club. The CasaBlanca is a popular track in Mesquite, which lies about 77 miles to the northeast of Las Vegas along Interstate 15.

Four of the course's holes were affected by the flooding, while two were completely submerged in water. It is not a surprising outcome for a course situated near the Virgin River -- which swelled over in the storms -- where 13 holes see water coming into play. More than a dozen homes in Mesquite suffered flood damage.

By Sunday, the course was back playing 16 of its 18 holes, and as of Thursday, CasaBlanca is only awaiting the return of its fifth hole. As of midweek, golfers were repeating a hole to finish a round while No. 5 returns to form, which is expected to occur this weekend. The fifth hole, rated the top handicap on the course, is a par-4, 466-yard test with a slight dogleg to the right.

Marty Rapson in the CasaBlanca marketing department said Wednesday that the course is mostly back to normal after swelling in the Virgin River washed across it early last week. She is not certain of costs for repair as yet.

"There is no completed estimate on damage," Rapson said.

CasaBlanca will host the upcoming Big Stakes Match Play event in mid-May.

Representatives from Wolf Creek, Falcon Ridge and Palms at Oasis golf courses said last weekend that their courses were minimally, if at all, affected by the flooding and that the courses were ready for play as usual.