Foggy Notion

As I was driving back east on the Mass Pike this past Tuesday it was pretty ironic when an old song by The Velvet Underground popped up on my iPod, "Foggy Notion." I had just left Tekoa Country Club and one of the final Mass Amateur qualifying rounds in cold, drizzly weather. Typcially that wouldn't have been a big deal - golf is an outdoor sport and we're used to the elements. What made the day unusual is that we started the day off at The Blandford Club in Blandford, MA.

Blandford is a 9-hole private club that is celebrating its centennial this year and they were looking forward to hosting Mass Amateur qualifying. When heavy rain forced played to be suspended around mid-morning all the officials were hopeful that the rain would pass and we would get the players back onto the golf course. That's when the fogged rolled in. We've probably all experienced fog at a call course one time or another, but this fog just kept rolling in and out. You couldn't see 100 yards at its worst. As a one-hour delay got closer to two-hours it became apparent that we might not be able to get this round in. We couldn't possibly ask players to play when they couldn't see their ball, even though it had stopped raining.

MGA Director of Rules and Competitions, Jesse Menachem, was very quick on his feet, though. He had noticed Tekoa Country Club in Westfield on his drive to Blandford. Tekoa was only about 10 minutes away and not at the same elevation. He called head pro E.J. Altobello who immediately agreed to accommodate the full field of stranded Mass Amateur hopefuls.

The players were gathered and announcements were made, and just like that, 40 players and another 10 or so officials drove down the road where new times were assigned and the field got off at Tekoa without incident. There were five happy qualifiers at the end of the day, but a real hat's off to E.J. and new Tekoa owner Dan Burack for bailing us out. This is my 18th year in golf administration and I have to say that this was a first. I've experienced plenty of rain-outs and a fog delay or two. I was even at the 2006 US Women's Open at Newport CC when an entire day was cancelled due to fog. But this was the first time that a weather event forced the move from one site to another on the same day.

I also want to thank the President of The Blandford Club, Steve Delnickas, for being so understanding of our predicament and realizing we had no other chioce but to move when given the option. I toured the course with him after all the players and officials had left. It's a nice 9-holes and they are all very proud of their club and were looking forward to hosting qualifying for the Mass Am. Congrats to them on their Centennial. We'll be back. Next time hopefully no fog.