Impossible Conditions

[Paul Rudovsky]

My toughest day ever was as I was trying to finish the World 100 EVER from 8 sources/publications and arrived in Dublin after overnight flight from NY on April 11, 2016 with first stop at County Louth GC just north of Dublin...described as follows on my blog:



Arrived at Dublin Airport around 5:15am on Monday, procured my car rental, and headed up north about one hour to Baltray.  The weather could be best described by Jordon Spieth’s first two swings on #12 the day before.  It was about 43°, the winds were about 30mph (and gusting higher) and it was raining fairly hard.  The club was founded in 1892 and its course renovated into greatness by Tim Simpson and reopened for play in July 1938. 


Yours truly was in a quandary.  As miserable as it was, I could not return until September and I needed this to finish the EVER bucket list.  It got on the list due to being rated #68 on Golf Digest UK’s World Top 100 (my 8^th source) in 2010 and 2011.  When my caddy showed up, I figured, have top give it a shot.  #1 was playing right into the wind…and I secured perhaps the best bogey five of my life there.  At that point, my caddy said, “why don’t we get a buggy.”  I will be eternally grateful for that thought, but wish it had come 10 minutes earlier.  Amazingly, while I huddled behind some tall bushes to get some protection from the wind, he went back to try to secure a buggy.  I never thought they would allow it, but they did, so who was I to argue?  That made the rest of the round possible.  We zipped around in about 2:15, I have no idea what I shot (but did have several pars), went into the clubhouse after nine to dry down and warm up (and prevent frostbite)…but we got it done.  Just don’t ask me what the course was like…although I could tell that the back nine through the dunes is something special.


I was a spectator for my second remembrance...it was a Saturday of the 1963 US Open at Brookline and they were playing 36 that day (1964 was the last year for a 36 hole Saturday).  Wind was howling and I remember thinking I should avoid standing under trees.  I'll simply say that 50 players made the cut and played Saturday and par was 17...average score Saturday morning was 78.24 (lower round was 73---two of them).  Winds let upon a bit in afternoon so average score was a blistering 77.37 (low round was 72--three of them).  High round for day was 91.

[James Brown]

3 situations come to mind:


Funnest:  Played in a sideways gale at Machrihanish in 2012 all day and had an absolutely blast.  Walked up into the Ugadale hotel lobby in a rain suit soaking wet and got nothing but smiles. 


Windiest:  Dooks, Ireland in 2007.  The one time I have played the lob wedge shot where it came back to my feet.  Hard to stand.


Snow:  Teed off a few winters ago at Westfield Golf Club in VA in January at about 45 degrees and overcast.   By the 12th hole it started snowing in super big wet flakes with no wind.  Putting out on 18, it was a thick layer of snow on the ground and dead silent and just heaven. 

[Sean_A]

I have played countless games of golf in snow, with sub freezing temps and a decent wind. We had finals of a district high school tourney in that sort of stuff. But the harshest conditions I experienced was at Muirfield on a sunny day. Consistent 60mph wind with higher gusts. None of us could reach fairways into the wind, we looked for the lightest rough which doesn't really exist at Muirfield. Plenty of putts were hit then blown back behind golfers. Bunker shots would fly out of sand and be blown back in. It was crazy.

I am now a firm believer in 8 to 12 mph of wind as ideal and anything around 20 as harsh. 30mph is stupid wind.

Ciao

[Ben Sims]

I remember setting up a four hole Birdie Ball course in some open desert on an air base in Saddam’s hometown in 2010. Needless to say, the game was suspended quickly anytime the claxon indicated we should head for the bunker.

[MCirba]

More recently played Pinehurst #2 a few months ago in a deluge for the entire round.   


Standing water on every green meant mandatory two putt unless you could somehow make your first one.

[Kyle Harris]

More recently played Pinehurst #2 a few months ago in a deluge for the entire round.   


Standing water on every green meant mandatory two putt unless you could somehow make your first one.

Thought for sure that windy day at Tallgrass would qualify. We barely survived the Throgs Neck Bridge in my brand new 2007 Ford Focus.

[MCirba]

Kyle,


In the words of Peter Allis (RIP), that day was so adventurously enjoyable the breeze in fading memory was merely a mild zephyr.

[John Emerson]

A couple of years ago we had a dry hurricane come through Indiana. One of my playing partners hit a high flop shot from down in a valley to an elevated green. The wind caught the ball and blew it behind him. We had a ton of fun. When we finished we learned that a couple of guys were killed on a nearby course when a tree fell. I almost said on them but I figured it didn't scare them to death.

Was that 2008? I was living outside Dayton OH that and was playing when the remnants Hurricane Ike came up through the area. The day was bright and sunny but while we were on the back nine the wind picked up and was probably three clubs by the time we finished. By the time I got home it was shelter-in-the-basement time. Lots of damage in the area and a few people died, I believe.

Yes sorry my years run together during this time!!  I have pictures of the hail and damage to the greens.  It was a nightmare but the community came out in droves with a divot tool in hand to help repair the greens.  Beautiful thing to see!  Even after hand repairing all the craters from the tennis ball size hail we had to bury the greens in sand!! Thank god for disaster insurance!!!

[Philippe Binette]

1) when I played Friar's Head, the conditions were:
_ stepping on the tee at 4 PM, cool evening
_ fog, couldn't see more than 120 yards
_ light drizzle that turned into rain
we played 9 or 10 holes... but didn't see much..


2) when I played Western Gailes:
- hole 1 and 2: rain
- hole 3 sunlight
- hole 4: storm came in, sleet turning the greens into whites..
- delay, sun comes back
- hole 5 to 9: sunny, extremely calm... no wind, no waves at sea...
- hole 10: wind picks up...
- hole 11 to 14: wind keep geeting stronger...
- hole 15: nearly fell backward on my tee shots
- hole 16 to 18: strong strong wind...
- hole 18: played at 345 yards, I hit driver, low 3-wood to reach the front of the green.

[JohnVDB]

Rainiest day was at abandon Dunes with Peter Pittock where we played 9 holes with the holes all filled with water.  They even gave us rain checks after we quit at the turn. Later that day the sun came out and we got a tour of Pacific Dunes just after the fire that had cleared a bunch of the ground.


The second was at Salishan where I was the only person to try to play that day and had to quit after teeing off on 14 and couldn’t hold the club anymore, even with rain gloves. Again got a rain check.


Windiest was at Royal Dornoch in October. When my friend and I walked into the pro shop the assistant asked if we “were mad”. It was a great sunny day.  Coming up 16 I was being blown backwards. My friends trolley almost got blown over the cliff on the left into the gorse.


The snowiest was a day a Pumpkin Ridge where it started on 14 and by the time we got to 18 there was at least an inch on the ground.


The same friend from above at Royal Dornoch and I got caught on the 16th tee in a brief icy snow squall one April.

[Tom_Doak]

1) when I played Friar's Head, the conditions were:
_ stepping on the tee at 4 PM, cool evening
_ fog, couldn't see more than 120 yards
_ light drizzle that turned into rain
we played 9 or 10 holes... but didn't see much..

I remember this one.  Can't complain, we had already had a good day!


The last round of the US Women's Open today was some pretty tough conditions too.  Some of the players were wearing parkas and a bunch had on earmuffs!

[Andrew Harvie]

I once played a junior tournament in Olds, Alberta (between Calgary & Edmonton) in a tornado warning. It was gusting close to 70MPH. I distinctly remember hitting driver 3 wood into the 310 yard par 4, 8th. It was absolutely insane


Similar, I played a junior tournament in Vancouver and it rained enough that there was not a single part of the golf course that wasn't casual water, and yet they made us play. The worst part of it all was it was a Team Canada Order of Merit counting event... I remember almost fighting a rules official because there was not a single place I could take relief, so he told me I might have to go back to the tee if it was the only place that was dry!


I've also played in -20*C and snowing. It was a winter match play, and it was the last day to get the match in. Program director told us we had to play, so we did! I have a photo of this day. I'll try and find it


you play a lot in the elements as a Canadian junior golfer. The very first official "big event" of the year is in Southern Alberta and every second year it snows. It actually became a problem when I was trying to go to school in the US... it affected my scoring average playing in all those!

[David Davis]

Normally in tournaments once the balls start blowing on greens they call the event.


Like his last putt that blew from an inch way to 50 ft, if that happens it's all over. I've played in plenty of events they had to cancel because the ball wouldn't sit still and that's on greens that were prepared for high winds. Think then in the realm of wind force 8 to 9. One super fast greens an event could be cancelled with wind force 5 most likely. These greens were running at 8 on the stimp and most of you guys in the US might not even know what that speed feels like unless you go putt on your furry carpets 


The windiest I've ever played in was ridiculous and I was with two buddies from France visiting Noordwijkse for the first time, probably shared the story before. The biggest summer storm in 50 years hit the cost at 2 pm with winds over 120 km/hour. We teed off at 1:20 pm.


We lost like 60 trees that day including two that fell over the entrance road and hence we were stuck there.


We finished the round. No scores posted but couldn't putt everything out. Most holes we did finish.

[Pat Burke]

Oak Valley in Beaumont Ca
Isn’t too far from Desert Dunes on the opposite of the pass that creates the winds for all those windmills


We ha second stage of q school there for years and inevitably, one round would create carnage. Not unplayable, just absolute carnage for guys dying over their career plans for the next year


Ok shot 75 in a fourth round one year, starting with a three shot cushion to qualify for finals.
I birdied four of my first five holes with the wind howling but the good direction.
When I made par on 18 I was exhausted and terrified I may have missed. It was so freaking tough the last 12 holes, that I couldn’t even fathom what the scores would be


I ended up picking up a number of spots with the 75


I also managed to age a number of years!

[Pete_Pittock]

    I remember that day at Bandon with JVDB, but that wasn't the worst I've experienced at the resort.  Once I played nine holes at Bandon Dunes and stopped at the pro shop because my yardage book only had pages for Holes 1-14 and 15-18. The others were probably nearing Sandpines.
     Then there was the King's Putter in Palm Springs when we were scheduled for 36 on a day that was 115-120. Only saw about half of Stone Eagle even though I was fully hydrated at the start of the day.
    Two worst days on the golf course was while officiating. One was cold, wind, rain and lightning at Persimmon (Gresham OR) and once at Astoria when we cancelled a round for high winds (60+), but one player was pissed as he was leading by 4 or 5 shots.
    Reminds me of another round at Astoria in a Team Championship when I drew an early Saturday tee time and was thoroughly drenched and buffeted. I think I shot mid 90s, then it was sunny and light winds for the afternoon wave
   

[Lou_Duran]

Pete,


I remember the KP at Stone Eagle.  It was brutal.  I walk in the Texas heat all during the summer, most always starting around 8, but I've never been in anything like that afternoon.  Mr. Huntley retired in the middle of the front nine, worn out by the morning round (at Plantation?) and the third or fourth time he visited the desert at SE.  I am not sure that he came back the following morning.


It was there that I last visited with John Bernhardt who, recovering from his last bout of cancer treatment, I think soldiered on through that morning round.  I suspect that SE didn't receive its due appreciation because of the extreme heat which was suffocating even when leaving from the motel at 7:00 a.m.


BTW, I once played Portland GC when, except for the greens, there was not a spot of dry ground on the course.  Pumpkin Ridge the afternoon before was only moderately less saturated.

[jeffwarne]

The toughest day I can remember when it wasn't raining was at Dunfanaghy.
The greens were very fortunately uncut with worm casts and dew, probably running 6-7 at most.The balls were oscillating wildly and you had to play wind on all length putts. Any faster and the ball wouldn't have stopped.As it was, 2 putting from 6 feet was a challenge.
I distinctly remember trying to take a video at the top of 7 tee and cowering on my knees behind a cement bench.(visible in the link Thomas Dai just posted on the St. Patrick's thread-I had to check to see if it was indeed cement!)
205 meters dead downhill, driver 40 meters short.


I had one of my best rounds ever(adjusting for conditions) and I remember my partner giving up and caddying for me after #10-he had had it with the 40 mph winds.
On the 17th hole-180 yards, I hit a full driver which just cleared the gunch about 25 yards short of the green, my other playing partner-a pro- laid up to the ladies tee with a 5 iron!
Great fun.


Later that day when the wind had subsided to just insanely intense(25-30 mph) the same partner who had quit at Dunfanaghy fired a nifty even par at Cruit. We were the only people playing at Cruit, but remarkable when we had played at Dunfanaghy, the course was quite busy, though many were packing it in as they approached the clubhouse from 11 onwards.

[Pete_Pittock]

My happy story in impossible conditions was last year at Cabot Links. Wind 45-55 and gusting. I sheltered in my bedroom until just before my tee time. Committed a GCA heresy by leaving my camera behind. My first five shots on the par 5 1st were drivers and would have finished in double digits. On the par 4 second my first two shots were with driver. Much happier as I was about 4" from hole and used driver for tap in birdie. On the par 3 6th, from the silver tees I putted (130ish yards) to within 10 feet and made birdie. On the 8th, a par 5 my approach shot was with 7 iron,  the only time I have hit an iron approach into a par 5. The cliff par 3 wasn't reachable.

[cary lichtenstein]

Butler National, Saturday, 30 years ago. Everyone was 4-8 handicap, tough course day with 40 mph winds, i was low man with 97, all the other were 103/4, impossible conditions

[Matthew Rose]

Junior year of high school, southern Wisconsin, last day of April. Saturday morning - up at 5:30 to be at school at 6 so we can take the van 60-70 miles out of town for a team event. 8:00 shotgun.

When we get in the car, the temperature is 41 degrees. When we tee off, the temperature is 31 degrees. I have to start on a 200 yard par-three over water. I stay dry but make a double bogey anyway due to having pretty much zero sense of feel or touch, make it through about 8 holes when super wet, heavy snow starts falling. We get to a par-three and wait for two groups to play; by the time we tee off there's about 2-3 inches on the ground and the whole thing gets called off. We end up posting 9 hole scores, all of which are terrible, and finish about second or third from the bottom.

The next day was May 1 and it was about 75 degrees.

Runner up - playing in a 2-man scramble in Firestone, CO with my older brother and being chased off by a tornado that touched down 1 mile northwest of the course.