But you still need to activate your account.
ROCKLAND – One by one, they fell. Rockland Golf Club was the last holdout Friday, but finally surrendered at 2:30 p.m.
For the first time in the 32 years of the CITGO Paul Bunyan Amateur Golf Tournament, a round was lost to bad weather. Never before had a round been washed out.
“This is only the second time I’ve had a tournament round washed out here,” said longtime Rockland Golf Club pro Peter Hodgkins.
Bangor Municipal Golf Course, Bar Harbor Golf Course in Trenton, and Kebo Valley Golf Club in Bar Harbor had all flown the white flag earlier.
Scores for the completed rounds, including the exceptional efforts of Arnie Clark of Kennebunk and Ricky Jones of Thomaston, were all tossed out. Clark fired a 1-under-par 69 at Rockland and Jones turned in an even-par 70 shortly afterward.
Now everybody will start from scratch Saturday and play at the courses they were scheduled to play.
“It’s a two-day tournament now,” said Tournament Director Skip Chappelle.
“I know how the players get charged up for this, and then get let down. Now they’ve got to get charged up again for [Saturday],” Chappelle said.
The greens at Rockland, where the tournament’s Division A players were competing, could no longer absorb and drain off the rain which fell lightly early and torrentially later.
“I was running around like a hen with my head cut off,” said Hodgkins. “I tried to squeegee the greens, but I couldn’t keep up.”
The rain eased to almost nothing later, but it was too late.
“Even if it stopped now,” said Hodgkins at about 3 p.m., “it would be two hours before I could get it ready to play. They’d never finish.”
The players, who generally accept the fact they have to play in the rain occasionally, agreed it was too much Friday.
“It got real bad,” said Charlie Pray of Rockland, “when you could see the sheets [of rain] blowing across the course.”
Scott DeWitt of Saco said, “When I got done [just before noon], I said there was no way they were going to finish.”
The situation was similar at the other courses.
“There was far too much water accumulated on the greens to putt out,” said Kebo pro Gregg Baker.
“We suspended right around 1 [p.m.] or shortly after,” said Baker. “I was going to hold it for an hour, but it rained so hard in the next half hour that I decided to call it off.”
The rain started about 11:30 a.m. at Bar Harbor Golf Course in Trenton, according to one player, and by the time the 12:44 p.m. threesome was to tee off, the course had become unplayable.
The problem now for the pros, Chappelle, and the players is the weather for the rest of the weekend.
“It might be a one-day tournament,” said Chappelle, “but I’ll leave that up to the pros.
The pros, meanwhile, were keeping tabs on the overnight accumulation of rain.
“If we don’t get a deluge, we’ll be OK,” said Bangor pro Brian Enman.
He added, “We’ve had a wet spring. [The golf course] was just starting to dry out, and here we go again.”
If all three days are washed out, all agreed it could be difficult to reschedule the tournament for later in the year, although some said it would be worth looking into.
“I think it would be tough to get a full field for a three-day tournament,” said Keith Patterson II of North Waterboro, “but I think you could get a nice full field for a two-day weekend tournament.”
Rain wasn’t the only problem. Fog was also a factor early.
“On the ninth hole,” said Ellsworth’s Dan Sargent of the 205-yard, par-3 hole at Rockland, “they had a guy next to the green with a walkie-talkie and another next to the tee.
“The guy next to the green would call when the group ahead had left the green and it was safe to hit.
“You couldn’t see 50 yards.”
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