Swimming ducks meander in the pond as foliage sprouts out along the shoreline.

In the middle of this serene pond, a red golf ball washer stands upright, covered to its neck in water. That's right - those ducks aren't swimming in Golden Pond, they're taking a dip in the middle of a golf course fairway.

Water hazard took on a new meaning for area golfers as rain and flooding this week left parts of many East Lansing golf courses partly or completely submerged in water.

But as business at the tee is dwindling, local hardware stores are scrambling to find enough pumps and hoses to bail out drowning businesses.

"We haven't seen it this bad for as long as anyone here can remember," said T.J. Roberts, an employee at Timber Ridge Golf Course in East Lansing.

Throughout the week, rain across the state has closed many local golf courses.

Water covered tree trunks, logged holes and concealed fairways, drowning the entire course and forcing the Forest Akers Golf Course to close Friday, Course Manager Stephene Benkert said. The course was able to open its back nine on Tuesday, but many holes remained soppy.

"The front nine is not open at all," Benkert said. "Normal course ponds are overflowing and full, and some fairways have Lansing water all the way across them."

Benkert said the Akers course doesn't have the only soggy green in the area.

"This is a problem many courses are dealing with," she said. "Not only in our city, but across the state, courses are flooded and local golfers are not able to play."

Although Benkert said the course has access to a few campus water pumps, many other submerged courses were not as easily bailed out.

Roberts said Timber Ridge, 16339 Park Lake Road, has been playing the waiting game because many parts of the course are too submerged or are out of their pump's reach.

"There's really no way to pump some parts, and even if we could, we have no where to put the water that's pumped," Roberts said.

Timber Ridge was closed Sunday and Monday but was able to reopen parts of its course later in the week.

"People were definitely unable to play on this course," Roberts said. "Ponds developed in places they shouldn't have been."

As golf courses remained closed, the rush for emergency pumps have wiped out area hardware shops.

"We have completely run out of pumps and hoses," ACE Hardware Manager Kelay Brendahl said.

Brendahl, who manages the ACO in the Frandor Shopping Center, 600 Frandor Ave., said 65 area ACO stores are clamoring for supplies to curb the flooding.

"Everyone is experiencing this flooding," she said. "We are trying to divvy up the pumps and supplies equally to all stores. With demand so high, they are trying to send out as much as they can to each store."

Roberts said die-hard golfers are upset they can't play and some are unable to understand why the pumps are in short supply.

"People are pressuring us to get out there and deal with the water," Roberts said. "There's nothing we can do for some parts, and they are wondering why we're waiting."

Though some are upset, both Benkert and Roberts said many golfers are understanding enough to wait a couple days until their next round.

"It's pretty obvious its un-playable, so many people understand," Benkert said. "There have been a lot of jokes about canoeing from tee to tee."