Thursday afternoon’s rain showers sent golfers running for cover, but the people who take care of Beeville’s municipal golf course welcomed the fast-moving squall with open arms.

“We’ll take anything we can get,” said Mike Loya, who works in the pro shop at the John C. Beasley Municipal Golf Course.

“Because of the drought we’re praying for rain daily — but we’re watering every night,” he said.

The drought, now in its ninth month, has made the nightly watering schedule imperative, the golf course supervisor says.

“We’re putting the equivalent of two inches of water on the greens every night and about an inch of water on the fairways every other night because of the drought,” said Fred Diaz, parks and recreation director for the city of Beeville. “The nightly watering has helped keep the grass alive and the greens are still green.”

Diaz said his staff is also regularly fertilizing the sod to keep it healthy.

“We’re also putting down ground conditioner, which opens up the pores and helps the soil retain the water instead of letting it run off,” he explained.

Fortunately, fewer golfers play in the heat of the summer, which has allowed the greens and fairways stressed out by the drought time to grow unmolested.

“Fewer players mean fewer people trampling on the grass,” he said.

He said he’s heard few complaints of the dirt patches, sections of brown grass and cracked earth on the fairways.

“True golfers understand what we’re doing and they’d be the first to say that, considering we’re in a drought, the course is in immaculate shape,” he said. “And, for the price of a round of golf, you really can’t beat (playing the course).”

Loya said he’s noticed slightly fewer golfers teeing off during the summer months, especially during the heat of the day.

“Most of the golfers are playing in the morning and evening, say, before 11 a.m. and after 5 p.m.,” Loya said.

“Some of the players told me it might be hot, but it’s never too hot to play golf,” Loya said.