Wait & wade at Glade

By Dave Morrison
Sports Editor

May 06, 2009 08:02 am

— Waiting was the name of the game on the second day of the NCAA Division II Super Regional on The Resort at Glade Springs’ Cobb Course.
Waiting. And waiting.
On a day that sent persistent and, and times, heavy rains, tournament officials waited — and waded — through a pair of lengthy delays.
The first came at 12:08 p.m. and lasted 3:05 and the second came at 4:30 and lasted 2:22.
That’s 5:27 minutes total.
Miraculously, play finally resumed and the last group of the day teed off and actually played about seven holes before play was halted by darkness.
Tournament officials said play would resume at 7 a.m. today.
After those groups complete the second round, the 27 foursomes will tee off in a shotgun start, meaning that foursomes will have to double up on as many as seven holes.
Tournament director Reid Amos, director of communications at West Liberty College, said it was almost imperative that the last groups get in at least the first few holes Tuesday night.
“According to the (rules) book, a tournament can only be official if 36 holes are played,” Amos said. “And with the forecast for (today), it will be easier for us if we have it down to 11 holes to play instead of 18.”
Amos said many of the coaches were concerned that play Tuesday would be halted after the second delay.
Under NCAA guidelines, 54 holes must be played between Monday morning and Wednesday sundown.
In essence, there is no extra makeup day.
So, if play was halted Tuesday and persistent bad weather continued into Wednesday forcing yet another lengthy delay, some teams might not have the required 36 holes to make the tournament official. In that case, all scores would be thrown out.
And ...
“The regional advisory committee would meet and, taking into consideration the first 18 holes, we would have to make a recommendation to the national committee as to the five teams that would move on to the national tournament,” Amos, a member of the advisory committee for the Atlantic and Eastern regions. “And that is a meeting that nobody wants to have.”
There is precedent, according to West Virginia Conference Associate Commissioner Will Prewitt, co-tournament director of the Super Regional.
“I was on the golf committee one year and that happened,” Prewitt said. “Really, that’s the last thing you want to meet about. You want it decided on the course, not in a meeting room or on a conference call.”
Amos said that most of the credit for getting the course in playing shape went to the staff at Glade Springs.
(Golf and Recreation Director) Mike James and his staff and (Superintendent) Keith Honaker and his staff deserve a whole lot of credit,” he said. “They did an unbelievable job of getting this course playable. After two long delays on a course that was already wet, for them to do that, it was incredible.”
Locally, Concord College, one of the teams still on the course when the rains came a second time, had moved into third place. But they still had to finish that round and no player in the field had come in under par for a round.
Concord began Tuesday in a four-way tie for sixth with the top five teams advancing to the national tournament at Loomis Trail Golf Club in Blaine, Wash., May 19-22.
— E-mail:
demorrison@register-herald.com

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