The only golf cart on the course Saturday was driven by Riverside Golf Course employee Rick Young.

Carts were not allowed because of wet conditions, but golfers at the Portland course said they were happy just to play at all after Riverside closed for four days amid recent heavy rain and flooding from the adjacent Presumpscot River.

“This is one of the first times I’ve seen it this bad,” said Shawn Milliken as he worked in Riverside’s pro shop.

As Milliken spoke, he fielded calls from golfers either trying to get a tee time or cancel one if they couldn’t take a cart. “The phone is ringing off the hook.”

Heavy rain in recent days led the Presumpscot River to flood over its banks, he said. “Everything flows into our holes. They were unplayable.”

Both the 18-hole north course and the nine-hole south course were closed from Tuesday to Friday. The two courses, which are owned and operated by the city of Portland, are usually among the busiest in southern Maine.

Milliken said he doesn’t remember having to close for four straight days. “We’ve lost close to 30 days of golf (this season). On Tuesday, holes 18, 10, 1 and 4 were underwater,” he said.

Last month, the course closed because of rain on July 2, 3 and 4.

“Until the river goes down, we can’t drain,” Young said.

“The ground is so saturated, when it rains it has nowhere to go,” leaving muck and mud, he added. “We’ve just had so much rain.”

Earlier this week, several ponds formed on the greens, Young said.

By Saturday, the course’s condition had improved, but lower portions of the course were still water-drenched at spots. Golfers had to make their way around water and mud as they walked and played.

But Doreen Robinson of Gorham was all smiles about playing golf.

“I was happy to be out,” she said. There were soggy spots, she said, “but considering the rain we’ve had, and the river being next to us, it was OK.”

Shaun Collins of Portland agreed conditions weren’t that bad. But “it was wet,” he said.

According to the National Weather Service office in Gray, Portland recorded 0.81 inches of rain Thursday night, on top of more than 1 inch of rain on Tuesday, raising the level of the Presumpscot River, which borders much of the golf course.

“The theme a lot of this summer has been humid air masses to linger across the area,” National Weather Service meteorologist Hunter Tubbs said. “When it’s humid, that increases rainfall efficiency. So a lot of these events, we’ve had very heavy rainfall events, which is causing flooding.”

So far this summer, 14.1 inches of rain has been measured in Portland, making this the 17th wettest summer on record. And with several weeks of August left, more rain will come and move this year further up that list, Tubbs said.

Rain has also been heavy this summer at the Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire. The observatory measured 17.08 inches of rain in July, making it the wettest July on record since 1931, the observatory’s Charlie Buterbaugh said.

One reason for heavy precipitation in the Northeast is warm sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean, which is causing additional moisture in the atmosphere, Buteraugh said in a statement.

For the Portland area, the immediate forecast calls for a chance of thunderstorms Saturday night and more rain Tuesday, followed – hopefully – by a couple of dry days, Tubbs said.

The rain has moved at least some people inside: A worker at Nickelodeon Cinemas in Portland said attendance has been strong this summer, in part because of the blockbuster “Barbie,” but also because of the weather.

“Anytime when it rains, people dive into the theater,” said the worker, who asked not to be named.

Meanwhile, workers at Riverside Golf Course expect the course to stay open Sunday.

But with some rain expected overnight, “we won’t know about carts until we get here in the morning,” Milliken said.

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