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Hurricane Irene cuts The Barclays to 54 holes
New Jersey is in a state of emergency and safety comes before sport.
By Paul Mahoney
So it's 18 holes on Saturday and then get the heck outta Dodge. The Barclays has been reduced to a 54-hole championship due to the impending arrival of Hurricane Irene. New Jersey's governor Chris Christie has declared a state of emergency and mandatory evacuation of coastal residents. "It looks like it's going to be a direct hit," said Barclays executive director Peter Mele. "We were waiting until the forecast was definite and hoping it wouldn't turn out this way." Winds gusting up to 35mph, rain and thunder storms are forecast for Saturday which Mele said meant playing 36 holes was simply not possible.
After discussion between PGA Tour officials, meteorologists, and executives from Barclays, the tournament's sponsor, the final call to reduce the tournament to 54 holes was taken by PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem. "It was the right decision," Mele said. "It kind of makes you want to cry because of all the effort that went in and all of the energy that surrounded this event. It is desperately disappointing for all the volunteers and staff and those that have worked to hard to prepare for this tournament but they have lives and families to think about too. The only good thing about this is to ensure peoples' safety. To get people out of harms way and prevent any disaster." Mele said, adding that scoreboards and signs are already starting to be dismantled before Saturday's final round. "We fully support the PGA Tour's decision to shorten the tournament to 54 holes," said Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond. "For the safety of all involved, this is the right call."
The PGA Tour's vice-president of rules and competitions Slugger White explained that the players will tee off in threeballs between 7am and 9am from the 1st and 10th tees. The plan is to compete the tournament by 2pm before the weather deteriorates further. But with heavy rain forecast for an already drenched course, White said delays could mean a late finish on Saturday is still possible.
Several options were discussed before Finchem made his final decision. "With the extreme weather conditions that we have got staring us in the face right now, Sunday obviously is not going to be here," White said. "We are looking upwards to maybe 10 to 12 inches of rain between Saturday night and Sunday evening, and that puts Monday out and Tuesday as well."
White explained that the course cannot take much more rain but could get away with maybe two inches. "But when we are looking at maybe 10 inches, we would have probably four holes in the bottom there that I don't think we could get a canoe to them."
White said that if the storms close in on Plainfield quicker than expected on Saturday making 18 holes impossible, then the tournament will resort back to 36 holes and FedExCup points would be rewarded for that.
This continues a dreadfully unlucky run for Barclays-sponsored events. The last Singapore Open was hit by monsoon rain and rolled over to a Monday finish. Then the Scottish Open in July experienced land slide as a once-in-a-century storm hit Inverness reducing the tournament to 54 holes.
