Guelph Lakes Deluge

Last Sunday, while Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, and a host of other professional golfers were contesting the final round of The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, in Hoylake, England, myself and a group of amateurs were contesting Round 3 of the 2006 Deepwoods Golf Association Tour, at Guelph Lakes Golf & Country Club, in Guelph, Ontario.

Conditions in Hoylake were dry, and judging by the parched Royal Liverpool fairways, must have been that way for some time prior to the tournament. Watching on television, it looked like the course could have used some of the rain that fell in Guelph. We certainly had plenty to go around, and that was really the story of the day.

Before the skies opened up, it was shaping up as a see-saw round. A near birdie on the par-3 second hole was bookended by a triple bogey on the first hole and a quintuple bogey on the third. Yes, that's right, I said quintuple. Two balls into a pond and an excursion into some long fescue produced that outcome.

The rain started on the fourth hole and was coming down hard when I teed off on the fifth. I should have known I was in trouble with the wind pushing my practice swing all over the place. I forged ahead and launched two balls out of bounds. By the time I holed out, I had recorded another quintuple bogey. Yes, that's right, I said it again.

At that point, we took shelter in the nearby snack hut and waited for a break in the deluge. When it came, I rattled off a stretch of four bogeys and a birdie. The respite was short, as the heavy rain soon returned. With it, came a stretch of two triple bogeys and a quintuple bogey. Yes, that's right, I said it again.

The rain eased up, but persisted in some form for the remainder of the round. In the lighter rain, I had a stretch that included three bogeys and a par. Clearly, I let the heavy rain bother me.

Looking back, it's amazing I escaped with a score of 106.

Score: 106
Par: 71
Putts: 40
Fairways: 2
Greens: 4