Competitive golfers are hardy souls because of the outdoors nature of the game. Truly talented linksters can handle the variances of the wind, play effectively in the rain and the cold, and have their wits about them while playing in extreme heat. There are numerous stories throughout golf”s long history of wherein weather has had a major impact upon the playing of the game and the outcome of a tournament.
The 1964 United States Open was played in the sweltering heat and humidity at the Congressional Country Club just outside Washington D.C. The eventual winner, San Francisco”s Ken Venturi, struggled mightily during final-round play as the temperature soared above 100 degrees. Venturi was advised by a medical doctor to withdraw during the final nine holes as he was suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration. Venturi wouldn”t even consider walking off the course and played the final holes with a very unsteady gait. In the end, he hung on to win and claimed the biggest prize of his Hall of Fame career.
Nonetheless, Ventrui”s experience extracted changes in the game. Never again would the final two rounds of the U.S. Open be played during the course of a single day. Golf officials became more aware of the hydration needs of golfers and began making drinking water available at all of the tees. Heat would continue to rear its ugly head, most obviously at the 1994 U.S. Open at Oakmont near Pittsburgh, where an overweight Colin Montgomerie of Scotland was drenched in sweat during Monday”s 18-hole playoff round with Ernie Els and Loren Roberts. However, Monty”s physical health was never in jeopardy that day.
The annual PGA Tour event at Pebble Beach held during the first week of February has had its share of bad weather conflicts. In 1996, the tournament was canceled after the second round because entire fairways were underwater and there was absolutely no way to avoid unplayable course conditions. Because the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am is played at three different sites, there was zero continuity after just 36 holes of play. Two years later, rain created more havoc along the Monterey coast and the tournament”s final round was completed in late August on the Monday following the PGA Championship at Sahalee in Seattle. It”s a good answer to a trivia question that Phil Mickelson teed it up in early February at Pebble Beach and won the tournament some six months later on the same course in August.
Locally, the March rains have gotten in the way of all things golf. The Kelseyville High School team has had to cancel a number of practices and even played one of its few practice rounds amid snow flurries at Adams Springs on Cobb Mountain. Scheduled matches this past week at the Meadowood Resort in St. Helena and at Mt. St. Helena in Calistoga had to be canceled. The same could be true for next week”s matches scheduled for Adams Springs and Meadowood.
The issue with match cancellations is usually one of course conditions, not inclement weather. Golfers can readily adjust to playing in the rain. However, the concern over the playability of a course comes from the accumulation of rainwater that Northern California golf courses have taken on during the past three weeks. It doesn”t matter how good your rain gear is when the tee shots completely plug in the fairway and rough, when standing water gathers on the putting surfaces, and when the cup itself is filled to the brim with water.
Because of the area”s mountainous terrain, a good many of the golf establishments in the Redwood Empire are located in mini-valleys surrounded by higher elevations. Runoff from days and days of precipitation has to go downhill and that”s where the water will stay until the deluge ends, the sun starts to shine, and temperatures rise. In the meanwhile, golf course maintenance gets more difficult because fairways and greens cannot be cut in a timely manner. Following last May”s unexpected heavy rains, grounds crew staff at Adams Springs had to first cut the fairways and then had to rake the long grass clippings in the fairways. Had the long fairway grass cuttings been left, the grasses underneath the clippings would have died and killed off the fairways. It”s one of those things where the problem is compounded by other issues.
One solution for the Kelseyville High School golfers was to relocated to a more benign climate. This past Monday, KHS competed in the Hilmar High School Invitational Tourney at Stevinson Ranch. The weather was a downright pleasant 75 degrees and for the first time all year, I got to see tee shots land in the fairway and roll out another 20 to 30 yards. No casual water, no mud on the ball, no playing winter rules. Then again, the 520-mile roundtrip and the accommodations at the less-than-idyllic Turlock Motel 6 made me realize that while there are birdies to be made, there are also double-bogeys out there.
The only thing that will definitely go on as scheduled on the links during the next few weeks is the opening of the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit next Saturday and Sunday at Buckingham Golf and Country Club. The season opener is the 16th annual Lake County Partners Scramble. Buckingham is in a unique location at the base of a dormant volcano and the end result is that the soil drains extremely well. It may rain heavily next Saturday and Sunday, but there is no way that the Partners Scramble will be canceled because the course doesn”t hold water.
Last October, the Lake County Tournament of Champions was contested in a driving rainstorm on Oct. 23 at Buckingham. The following day, the heavens opened up and close to one inch of water fell over that 24-hour period of time. The next day, Oct. 25, Buckingham served as host to the North Coast Section Division II Girls” Golf Championship. There wasn”t any amount of standing water on the course and the greens putted fast and true. The same will be true next week, come rain or come shine.
