On 7/27/21, 8:52 PM, “taterich@deltacoals.com” wrote:

Facts

The horn blew on the White Tee competition at HCC as Foremost’s group reached their balls all lying in the middle of the 9th fairway. One ball, in fact, was already on the green looking at an easy two putt with the other 3 players in excellent shape for pars, perhaps even birdies. They had completed 11 holes after starting the round on the 16th Hole.

“Should we play out the hole?”, asked Reader JE, as he surveyed a short wedge or 9-iron shot into the green. F quickly answered that under R5.7b(1), the stoppage of play “must” be immediate under penalty of DQ for playing a stroke after horn notice of immediate danger such as posed by a lightning threat. Accordingly, the players all marked their balls and quit the premises.

“Well, that’s it” said veteran player and Reader FB. “ Everyone who is playing good will head to the Hudson House for lunch. Everyone who is playing bad will head straight to the parking lot or the locker room for a card game.”

F’s group peeled off to the Hudson House as they were well under par and confident they were leading or in contention. No other groups joined them for lunch. Over a light bowl of chili fortified with jalapeños and onions and cheese and maybe some sour cream, F pondered with his group when and if play would resume.

A discussion ensued as to whether players should be required to wait out a lightening delay. All agreed that the “Committee” must decide whether to pull the plug on the competition or whether to require players to wait on the possible resumption of play. If the Committee decided to resume play, players “must “ be ready to commence play under penalty of DQ. R5.7c(2), although the threat of a DQ wasn’t much of a threat, someone suggested, as most entry fees probably weren’t paid until after the completion of the competition anyway.

Prospects for the F group didn’t look good. Reader and opponent JD walked in and delivered the news of cancellation after congratulating the F group on its fine play. He might have even had a bit of a grin on his face as he solemnly relayed the verdict.

The players stoically accepted the decision. In fact, each admitted that they had probably found themselves in the “parking lot” stampede on prior occasions. F knew he had. In retrospect, the cancellation call was the correct call. After a quick two-horn note to signal resumption of play, the horn sounded again as another lightning bolt cracked the sky.

Sometimes it’s just hard to keep the legislature in session! In the meantime, F is accepting care packages due to the hardship of the tournament cancellation.

As usual, all comments or corrections are welcome!

Respectfully submitted,
F