"A boat on a golf course is not something you see every day. Bring your scuba gear,” said Mike Willeby, assistant park manager.
Several holes at the golf course, part of the driving range and some of the cart paths are under water, said Dian Jordan, a Broken Bow Chamber of Commerce member who along with her husband, Doug Werhane, were on the golf course with their kayaks over the weekend.
"The 16th hole is always on the lake, and just now it’s just under the lake,” Jordan said. "Hole No. 2 is pretty close.”
Broken Bow Lake was 25
feet above the normal level Friday morning. The 40-year-old lake has never been higher, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.
The corps opened all eight gates at the dam to relieve pressure on the lake, and four gates remained open Sunday when the lake level had dropped a foot.
"So right now, we’ve got lots of lake,” Willeby said. "They’re going to continue releasing water, but we’re still not sure when the golf course will recover.”
Hochatown is on the west side of Broken Bow Lake. Beavers Bend State Park is on the south side. The area is the one hit hardest by spring rain, state Tourism Director Hardy Watkins said Sunday. Parts of the parks were evacuated.
The boat ramps were closed, so Werhane and Jordan got their boats on the lake at the golf course driving range.
They earlier tried using a stream, but "we ended up getting in the canopies of the trees and almost got lost,” he said.
"We did that for 15 to 20 minutes and said, ‘This isn’t as much fun as we thought it’d be.’”
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