PITT MEADOWS — Shotgun starts inevitably mean slow play, but that’s better than no play, which seemed a distinct possibility Wednesday morning for the second round of the B.C. Senior Men’s Championship at Pitt Meadows Golf Club.
Play was postponed when heavy overnight rain doused the course. When the rain finally subsided late in the morning, a decision was made to schedule a 1 p.m. shotgun start for the 156-man field.
Two groups on every tee, foursomes and some fivesomes. You know what that means — six-hour rounds. But no one was complaining. The alternative was cancelling the round and playing the event as a 36-hole championship.
“A shotgun seemed to be our best option,” said tournament director William McKenzie. “If that wasn’t going to happen, we’d have to cancel round two and have a 36-hole tournament. The grounds crew did a great job.
They squeegeed every green. The players were very understanding. Everyone understood these were unforeseen circumstances that were out of our control and we did out best to adapt and make sure they could play golf.”
When the very long day was over, Richmond’s Chris Jung had shot a one-under 71 and held the lead at three-under par. That came as something of a surprise to the 58-year-old Jung, who is playing in his first B.C. Senior Men’s.
“I’m surprised, you don’t think you are going to do that well,” he said. “You knew it was going to be a long round. You just try to keep focused. It was kind of tough trying to keep your nerves down.”
Other players also commented on the challenge of maintaining focus and patience.
Todd Wiseman of Port Moody, a former CFL defensive back, shot his second straight one-under 71 and was appreciative of the fact the field got to play golf on Wednesday. “I have to give recognition to the crew here for keeping the course playable,” Wiseman said.
“This morning it was unplayable. The course played well and obviously it played a little longer, but you knew it was going to be six or more hours to play the round. We had a good group of guys who really played well and we talked golf, we talked life. It will be nice to get home tonight and get a rest.”
Burnaby’s 74-year-old John Gallacher - who was leading the Super Senior division for golfers aged 65 and older- was delighted to be in the hunt for both titles.
“We got to play today, which was the key thing,” the two-time B.C. Senior Men’s champion said. “It was six hours and 10 minutes. I made a couple of mistakes that I shouldn’t have. I three-putted twice.”
Burnaby's John Gallacher - Image Credit Una Chou
Slower play was not the only challenge. Many players, recognizing that the day would be long, asked for power carts (allowable in Senior Championships) so that they would be able to sit down during the inevitable waits. Luckily, the Pitt Meadows Golf Club had a fleet large enough to meet the demand.
Scoring was also a challenge. 154 golfers finishing somewhat simultaneously would mean long waits to get into the scoring tents. In response, the BC Golf Championships staff had eight scoring stations set up.
While this shotgun approach clearly will not become the preferred format, this approach now can be a viable option when mother nature does not cooperate.