Tourney down the drain
Champions event is off indefinitely
CONCORD -- On Friday night, Paul Miller, director of golf course operations, departed Nashawtuc Country Club as an optimist, believing the
Miller was watching Friday night's Red Sox game and spotted the raindrops pelting Fenway Park. He knew that Nashawtuc was enduring the same beating -- a roundhouse the battered course couldn't take.
Yesterday morning, officials canceled the tournament, only the second time a Champions Tour event has been scrubbed because of weather. In September 1989, Hurricane Hugo wiped out the PaineWebber Invitational in Charlotte, N.C.
Tracy West, the tournament director, said a decision will be made within 10 days on whether the Bank of America Championship will be rescheduled this year.
``It was pointless to try to continue holding on to hope when there is no hope," said Champions Tour tournament director Ben Nelson.
After officials postponed Friday's first round, the plan was to tee off at 12:25 p.m. yesterday with the aim of completing at least 36 holes this weekend, the minimum number required for a tournament to be official. But Miller, who said that even a heavy overnight dew would affect the course, reported that 0.87 inches of rain fell on Nashawtuc between Friday night and yesterday morning.
As a result, the swollen Sudbury River, which had never receded within its banks after last month's flooding, didn't allow Miller and his staff to drain the standing water off the course. Yesterday, the par-3 eighth hole had turned into an island green, ducks were swimming off the tee of the first, and most of the ninth fairway was submerged.
Nelson said the original plan was to shrink the 543-yard ninth to a 130-yard par 3. But rain from Friday night rendered holes 1, 14, and 16 unplayable, as tee shots would have dunked into standing water and players would have to wade through puddles to reach the greens.
``I really felt we had pulled this together," said Miller. ``We were mowing and blowing off clippings. I went home and called Tracy to give her a ray of hope that we'd be playing golf [yesterday] if we could duck this final rain event that could deliver an inch.
``But I really knew, in the bottom of my heart, that we couldn't take much more than a quarter of an inch of additional moisture on this golf course."
West said one possibility would be to reschedule the tournament in mid-September, when there is an off week between the Constellation Energy Classic (Sept. 15-17) in Hunt Valley, Md., and the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn (Sept. 29-Oct. 1) in Conover, N.C. However, a rescheduling would require logistics such as a commitment from the tour, approval from corporate partners, agreements with vendors to rebuild tents and ropes around Nashawtuc, and assistance from volunteers.
A September date would also require a thumbs-up from Nashawtuc members, who, according to Miller, have already lost 16 days in the last month because of the saturated conditions. Miller estimated the course would not be ready for member play until Wednesday.
``We're here for one week and they're here for 51 weeks," West said. ``This is their course and we're respectful of that."
If the tournament is rescheduled, West said, tickets from this weekend, which are currently nonrefundable, would be honored. West said that most of the tournament's revenue, which comes from corporate partners, had already been taken in.
``This is the best senior golf course there is," said Chi Chi Rodriguez, who entertained fans Friday with a clinic on the driving range. ``It's fair, and great players always win it. Everybody has a chance to win here. I just hope they can get a date for this year. If a date's open, we can come back and play. Whenever Tracy wants me to come back, I'll be back."
West said other alternatives included rescheduling the event for another course or scrapping the tournament entirely.
In 2007, the tournament will be moved back to its original dates of the third week of June. West and Miller said the May floods, plus 5 inches of rain between last Saturday and yesterday, might have even washed out the event this year had it been held on its traditional dates.
``We could easily be this way in two weeks when we normally play in the third week of June," West said. ``This year, it wouldn't have mattered if we were the first week or the third week. Unless we were in August, it wouldn't have mattered. I don't think the scheduling had anything to do with this. No one could have predicted what happened here."
West and Miller had prepared for poor conditions earlier in the year. Nashawtuc often sees flooding in April from snowfall, but after the mild winter, West thought the course would be ready for this weekend.
Last night, tournament staff, including West and Miller, planned to gather in the clubhouse for a party with 2005 winner Mark McNulty. Unless the tournament can find another date, McNulty will be the defending champ when the event returns in 2007.
``This isn't only at Nashawtuc," Miller said of the conditions. ``The whole New England corridor is suffering. This is a hardship, but we'll be back. Better than ever."
