What was Nos. 13 and 14 at Plainfield on Sunday
There was never a doubt the PGA Tour made the right call by cutting The Barclays, the first leg of the FedExCup playoffs, to a 54-hole contest with Hurricane Irene headed for the Eastern seaboard. Further validation came via pictures after Plainfield Country Club endured Irene’s fury of rain overnight Saturday and Sunday morning.
Golf Channel’s Gary Williams tweeted the picture above, with the caption: “The first two holes of the tunnel 13&14 at Plainfield post Irene. Reported by Dir. of golf at Plainfield 8 1/2 inches rain.”
Nos. 13 and 14 were unrecognizable and looked more like a marsh.
And here’s 16 (photo via):
No, there isn't actually supposed to be a water hazard in front of 16 green
Needless to say, Plainfield is unplayable Monday, and had the Tour decided to wait out the storm and finish the 72-hole event, it may not even have been possible given the flooding.
The course had endured 14 inches of rain the week before the tournament, and frankly, couldn’t handle another dousing. It was already playing pretty soft, but started to dry a bit by last Wednesday’s pro-am — and then heavy showers drenched Plainfield last Thursday morning, lending to the plethora of low scores over the next three days.
“It’s such a great golf course, everybody has been raving about,” said Brandt Snedeker who shot nine-under 61 on Saturday, 16-under total for a share of third. “If this place played firm and fast, it would be so tough. It’s unfortunate it had to play this soft, but still, that being said, there’s a lot of tough shots out there — you can make a lot of birdies, but if you weren’t placing your ball in the right positions, you’ll make bogeys, as well.”
Hope everyone in Irene-affected areas is safe. For most of us in NYC, it was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. It was pretty incredible how fast the city cleaned up the flooding in the streets. If you have any pictures of damage caused to golf courses on the east coast, please pass them along!
