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Weather Testing Patience Of Everyone At U.S. Open

The most valuable individuals this week at the rain-delayed U.S. Open have been grounds crew members charged with using squeegees to remove excess water from the greens and fairways at Bethpage Black. (Steven Gibbons/USGA)

By David Shefter, USGA

Farmingdale, N.Y. – For the first time all week, Mike Davis was jolted by the numbing sound of his hotel alarm clock Sunday morning.

“I usually wake up early,” said the USGA’s senior director of Rules and Competitions. “This morning the alarm scared me.”

From a weather standpoint, the 2009 the U.S. Open at Bethpage State Park’s Black Course has been a logistical nightmare. In 20 years of working this championship, Davis has never witnessed anything like it.

And for the first time since 1983, the U.S. Open will have a Monday finish that doesn’t involve a playoff.

If the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage was entitled the “People’s Open,” the sequel should be called the “Precipitation Open.”

On Thursday, more than an inch of rain fell, causing play to be suspended for the day at 10:15 a.m.

From Saturday night into early Sunday morning, the second-longest course in U.S. Open history absorbed an additional eight-tenths of an inch of rain. Another one-tenth was expected Sunday morning, forcing USGA officials to delay resuming the third round until noon. That means the fourth round won’t commence until at least 5:30 p.m., pushing the finish to Monday. If an 18-hole playoff is necessary, it would be played Monday afternoon. But if another batch of heavy storms drills the area, get ready for Tuesday golf.

“Believe it or not, this course can keep handling a lot as long as we don’t get the downpours,” said Davis. “The water is seeping down. It’s a very sandy loam soil, so that’s the great part. If we were at some U.S. Open venues right now and this was happening, I can’t even begin to think what we’d be doing.”

On Saturday, the USGA dodged a major bullet when the gloom-and-doom forecast of rain for earlier in the day didn’t materialize until just before 7 p.m., allowing the suspended second round to be finished and the third round to be started. Another break came when just 60 players survived the cut (low 60 and ties), the first time that’s occurred since the 1998 U.S. Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.

“Yesterday was one of the luckiest days we’ve ever had at the USGA,” said Davis. “We never thought we’d get round two done. Then we get round two done and we hit 60 players right on the noggin. That allowed us to go in groups of two. If we would have had 63 players, we would have gone in threes, which is slower.”

The Sunday forecast, according to Davis, should allow the players to start at noon and play without interruption. Once the third round is completed, around 4:30 p.m., the USGA will re-pair and send golfers off the first and 10th tees again, starting at 5:30 p.m. Davis said an hour break between rounds is needed to shuttle players out to the 10th tee, which is at the far end of the property.

Even by starting the final round that late in the day, the final groups could conceivably play three or four holes, allowing the USGA to finish the 72-hole competition – weather permitting – by no later than noon on Monday. If bad weather rolls in and an impending playoff can’t be started by 3:45 or 4 p.m. on Monday, the USGA would not begin the playoff until Tuesday. If more than two golfers are involved in the playoff, the latest start time might be bumped up because it simply takes longer to conduct.

“The last thing we want is a playoff where [players] are coming back to play one or two holes,” said Davis. “That’s not the right competitive situation.”

From a maintenance perspective, Davis said grounds staff using squeegees and water hogs has been able to remove excess water. Dry wells on the 18th fairway, the lowest point on the course, are pumping the water to the adjacent Green Course.

“I think the players do appreciate the great work the grounds staff has done,” said Davis. “From what I’ve heard from players, they are actually surprised how good the golf course is considering what we’ve been up against.”

David Shefter is a USGA Digital Media staff writer. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.

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