During the next drought on Long Island, the authorities should hastily put together a golf tournament at Bethpage Black. Any tournament.
Because Black isn't just the name of the course; the color perfectly describes the clouds that seem to descend for any event here.
The 2009 U.S. Open has seen its first weather delay just 3 hours and 16 minutes after Rickie Fowler hit the first shot.
And as I sit here listening to the rain pelting the roof of the media center, I am reminded of 2002 U.S. Open, when the second day was soaked and a delay on Sunday caused winner Tiger Woods to putt out in near darkness.
I am also reminded of the 20 competitive rounds I have played at Bethpage Black. In each of my four years as a college golfer, we used to play two events a year on the Black: The two-round McLaughlin Invitational in October and the two-day, three-round Ivy League Championships in April.
It was as if the park has some sort of microclimate that obeys an entirely different set of meteorological rules. Because for each of those eight events, the weather for the practice round would be perfect. But somehow, the conditions never stayed that way when the bell rang.
Of course, some of those were two rounds in one day, which actually made the day more miserable. Then as now, the rain made the course, which measured 7,065 yards in those days, play impossibly long: I have never hit so many 4-woods and 2-irons into par 4s. (I wish hybrids had been around then.)
Golf is supposed to be fun. But one year, playing 36 holes on the Black on a cold, wet day, wearing a soggy rainsuit and carrying a wet bag with slippery grips, felt like a death march. In fact, the day nearly did kill my golf career. That night was as close as I've been to quitting the game. To this day, I am still not sure what impelled me to answer the 6 a.m. wake-up call the next morning so I could return to the 1st tee at 8.
The next year, conditions were similarly miserable, but one piece of advice from a teammate made a huge difference: Bring an extra pair of socks to change into at lunch.
So I can say I know a little about what the players will be enduring this week at Bethpage. And about the only piece of advice I can offer is to bring plenty of dry socks. That, and make sure to keep the grip of your fairway woods, hybrids and long irons dry. You'll be hitting a lot of them.
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