A game of survival

      The first day of the U.S. Junior Amateur at Colleton River Plantation started early for me.  I was out among the first wave of players, heading to the first tee box at about 7:50 for an 8 a.m. starting time.

      Like all of the walking scorers, we had to go through a quick training session with pads being used for real-time scoring. Unlike the instructions last week, each of the walking scorers had to keep track of the shots of each player in the group. A tally system was used on the score sheet, then we entered the scores into the pads. Simple stuff really, easily negotiated and no problem.

     The real problem was the heat. It’s one thing to do errands in high 90 temperatures, it’s another thing to spend five hours in the suffocating heat and humidity of the Lowcountry of South Carolina. The first seven holes of the Dye course provides a decent amount of shade, especially in the morning. But as the sun climbs and as players make their way to 8, 9 and the back nine, the shade gets scarce. Players, officials and spectators have to rely on survival instincts: economy of movement and tons of hydration. Alternating between water and Gatorade/Powerade works best.

      My group included players from Iowa, Texas and Virginia. A major point of emphasis for the USGA has been pace of play. At one point, our group received a warning then was put on the clock. Eventually, it got hashed out in the scoring tent, but the young amateurs need to learn to quicken their pace, especially in big events like this when there are so many players (156).

     My player, “Radar” I’m calling him, got off to a fast start, but started stumbling a bit as soon as I showed up after lunch and cooling down. He made an ugly bogey on a par 5, then his mother looked at me with a nice smile and said, “Maybe you should go.” Hey, I’m all about the mojo so I left. Radar shot even on the front, but 4-over on the back when the wind kicked up late in the day.

      Good for Radar that he begins in the second group of the morning off the 10^th tee. He’s likely to face little wind and cooler temperatures on the back and that can only help. One of the rules officials told me that probably 6 or 7-over for the 2 rounds will secure a spot in the field of 64. I hope he’s right.