Engineers suggest fixes for Palatine Hills golf course flooding

Golf enthusiasts learned Tuesday that while no cure-all exists for the water ills that plague the Palatine Hills Golf Course, there are some remedies that could ease both the amount and duration of frequent flooding.

They come with a hefty price tag and lengthy permitting process, of course, but Palatine Park District officials seemed optimistic after hearing the results of a long-awaited drainage study.

Civil engineers Don Matthews and Mei Zhu of Gewalt Hamilton Associates discussed four courses of action, starting with the widening of an existing channel between Smith Street and the Hamilton Reservoir. The $380,000 project would help alleviate flooding to the par-72 course tucked back from Northwest Highway during smaller rain events. To reduce the severity of flooding due to more significant storms, they recommend increasing the capacity of the Smith culvert to the tune of about $600,000.

They also recommend working with a golf course architect to raise the fairways of certain holes, especially the back four, by a foot or two and excavating portions of land outside of the playing area. The price would depend on the extent of the work.

A far more expensive alternative involving a complex levee and pumping system wasn’t deemed realistic.

Attending the presentation were about two dozen golfers who’ve become increasingly frustrated about flooding, which typically results in the course’s closure four to five days each year, course Superintendent Brad Helms said. Certain holes or even the entire back nine are unplayable due to standing water far more often.

But paying for the work will be an issue, considering the park district already subsidizes about $200,000 of Palatine Hills’ annual budget. The course generates between $1.2 million and $1.5 million on average.

Complicating the fixes are regulatory agencies including the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and Army Corps of Engineers, which could take a year to approve a permit. In addition, there’s a time crunch should the park district decide to raise the fairways because a Cook County watershed management ordinance is expected to pass in the near future, calling for far more stringent water detention standards.

“Getting a permit will become much more difficult after that is approved,” Matthews said.

Golfers who had been hopeful the reservoir, which often remains dry despite a flooded golf course, could be programmed to take in more water were disappointed to hear that wasn’t an option.

“The purpose of a reservoir is to have storage available when very large events come,” Matthews said. “Frankly, in the eyes of MWRD, water on a golf course is a good thing.”