Thursday afternoon, about 15 minutes after the USGA officially suspended play in the first round of the 2009 U.S. Open because of heavy rain and after trading text messages with Black Course superintendent Kevin Carroll, I put on my rain suit and ventured out into the elements that had put their mark on this year's tournament. I figured the best way to show you what I encountered was through some of the photos I managed to take.
This is the green on the par-4 second hole on the Black Course. It stands directly behind one end of the maintenance complex.
On the other end of the maintenance complex is the green at No. 13. This is the way the areas behind the grandstand looked Thursday afternoon. While the course may be playable Friday, it will be interesting to see what the outside-the-ropes areas look like. This was a mess. Thought I was going to lose a shoe.
This river is either running onto or off of the approach at No. 16. I didn't stick around long enough to study the water flow.
A look across the 18th fairway, which was affectionately referred to as "a swamp" by the USGA's Jim Hyler. Unfortunately, he wasn't far off. These hoses aren't currently active, but a pump on one side of the fairway moved water to a pump on the other side, which was then transported across No. 1 before being dumped on the far side of the 18th fairway on the Green Course.
The pump on the left side of the landing area on the 18th fairway, which was sending water through the blue, four-inch hose across the first fairway and eventually emptying on the far side of the Green Course's 18th Fairway.
Follow the blue hose as far as you can, because that's how far this pump on 18 is transferring water. Trust me, it's a long, long way.
This is what it looked like on the other side of the 18th fairway, opposite of where the pump you saw in the previous photo was located.
Finally, while the rains fell, most of the maintenance crew took time to grab a meal and wait out the heavy rain. For the most part, the rain was falling at faster rate than the crew could remove it with squeegees or Water Hogs.
Amazing job the crews did in dealing with that much rain. Hats off to the staff and volunteers at Bethpage.
Posted by: Dave Mitchell | June 26, 2009 at 07:38 AM