Improved drainage at Babe Zaharias, as a result of the city of Port Arthur’s recent efforts to unclog pipes, was apparent in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Imelda.

Although the 16 inches of rain Imelda dropped at the Babe shut down play from Wednesday through Saturday, the bounce back was quick.

“Even though there was a problem with pumps on the front, and the Main B canal got out of the banks, the course was playable two or three days sooner than it would have been before,” said Zaharias head pro Mitch Duncan.

“A lot of water fell in a short period of time. I’m pleased we could get open, and get back to normal, as quickly as we did.”

While Zaharias was playable Sunday, it was still extremely wet and only a few diehards were willing to deal with a “cart path only” requirement. It was still cart-path-only on Monday but by Tuesday there were no restrictions.

Amazingly, workers pretty much had the fairways mowed out on Tuesday. Except for a few low spots, it was nearly impossible to tell the golf course had absorbed so much rain.

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Coming up: Bob West’s Chip Shots