NICE SHOT : Weather playing too large a role in LPGA event
Posted on Sunday, July 6, 2008
Saturday is known as moving day in professional golf parlance. It's the day when players either position themselves for a finalround charge or fall out of contention.
Players' fortunes rose and fell Saturday at the LPGA P & G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship, but weather, once again, was the most dynamic factor playing out at Pinnacle Country Club. The golfers stood static Saturday morning, waiting out another one of the rain delays that have come to characterize the event.
Saturday morning's 88-minute delay was the second in as many days. The crack and tumble of thunder in the early morning hours of Friday heralded the arrival of the first suspension, a five-hour delay forcing 72 of the 143 players in the field to return to the course at 6: 45 a.m. Saturday to complete their final round. They didn't finish until shortly before noon.
The Saturday morning pause left the clubhouse portico choked with players, caddies and oversized golf bags, recreating a scene similar to the inaugural event in 2007 when six inches of rain spoiled the championship's debut. The tournament was rendered unofficial after it was shortened from 54 to 18 holes. Numerous players needed three days to complete one round.
On Friday tour officials were confident that a repeat of last year could be avoided. The unrelenting rains of 2007 made the two inches of precipitation that fell Friday seem almost inconsequential.
"We didn't get that much rain in that short a period of time, so we had a whole different look about the golf course when I first went out [Friday ] morning," said Doug Brecht, the LPGA's vice president of rules and officials. "Last year it was like trying to soak it up, trying to soak it up and the golf course was much wetter last year going in. Here it was pretty dry. At this point in time, we've got a great chance of finishing this golf tournament Sunday afternoon."
The weather has been more fluid than the leaderboard, giving no indication what it might do next. The line of thunderstorms that swept through Saturday suspended play at 9: 20 a.m. Players who hadn't completed their first round were taken off the course in vans that carried them to the clubhouse.
An announcement informing players they could return to the course was made at 10: 18 a.m. It was quickly followed by another announcement instructing players to evacuate the course again. Lightning had cropped up unexpectedly, prompting players to return to the safety of the clubhouse portico.
Play finally resumed at 10: 58 a.m. At 11: 57 a. m., the first round had concluded a mere 28 hours after it was scheduled to begin. A scramble then ensued to contact players. They had to be informed of their adjusted secondround tee times, which were pushed back more than four hours.
The media room bustled with activity as tour officials hurriedly worked the phones. Even LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens pitched in to help.
The frenzy inside the clubhouse stood in stark contrast to the scene outside of it moments earlier, when tour players were standing around with nothing to do. Hopefully the weather has idled them for the last time.
David Showers is a sports writer for the Northwest Arkansas Times.
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