With at least 40 trees down all over Congressional Country Club?s Blue Course, organizers of the AT&T National golf tournament have closed the event to spectators and volunteers for Saturday?s third round, which has been delayed by nearly six hours.
The roads around Congressional, in Bethesda, are strewn with trees after the violent overnight storms that ravaged the entire Washington area. PGA Tour officials were working Saturday morning with Congressional?s grounds staff to clear the course and make play possible Saturday.
?In the interest of safety for our fans and volunteers, the AT&T national is closed to spectators and volunteers for Saturday,? tournament officials said in a statement. ?The tournament will honor all Saturday tickets on Sunday?s round.?
Mark Russell, the PGA Tour?s vice president of rules and competition, said officials hoped fans would be able to return Sunday. Officials from the Tiger Woods Foundation, which stages and benefits from the tournament, said all Saturday tickets would be honored for Sunday?s final round if, indeed, the grounds are deemed safe.
?That?s a very drastic decision, not allowing fans to come out,? Russell said. ?But it?s in their best interests. It?s a dangerous situation.?
Play will begin at 1 p.m. from both the first and 10th tees in threesomes, with leader Hunter Mahan taking the course at 3:10 p.m. Woods, five shots back, will now tee off at 2:40 p.m. Officials were still trying to determine whether television coverage on CBS will be affected.
?Inside the ropes is going to be fine,? Russell said. ?The periphery is a mess.?
Dozens of trees were down at Congressional, both in fairways and in prime spectator areas, with broken limbs causing potentially dangerous situations. The 14th fairway was completely blocked by a fallen tree, and there is debris strewn about the course. Congressional?s staff, led by director of golf course maintenance Mike Giuffre, worked without sleep overnight to clear, among other things, four large trees that blocked entrance to the club. Another huge tree fell behind the second green, blocking access to the maintenance area, and another in the 18th fairway. Russell called the 11th fairway ?unbelievable? because of the amount of debris that had fallen in it.
?Everything that was inside the ropes was thrown outside the ropes,? Russell said. ?It?s gonna take a long time to clean this up.?
Stewart Williams, a meteorologist who works with the PGA Tour, said it?s likely that straight-line winds of about 70 mph blew through Congressional at about 10:15 p.m. and lasted roughly 45 minutes.
Play was originally slated to begin at 7:10 a.m., but no players had even arrived at the course then.
?It?s just too dangerous out here,? Russell said. ?There are a lot of hanging limbs. ? We just didn?t think it would be safe to get people out here.?
The roads around Congressional, in Bethesda, are strewn with trees after the violent overnight storms that ravaged the entire Washington area. PGA Tour officials were working Saturday morning with Congressional?s grounds staff to clear the course and make play possible Saturday.
?In the interest of safety for our fans and volunteers, the AT&T national is closed to spectators and volunteers for Saturday,? tournament officials said in a statement. ?The tournament will honor all Saturday tickets on Sunday?s round.?
Mark Russell, the PGA Tour?s vice president of rules and competition, said officials hoped fans would be able to return Sunday. Officials from the Tiger Woods Foundation, which stages and benefits from the tournament, said all Saturday tickets would be honored for Sunday?s final round if, indeed, the grounds are deemed safe.
?That?s a very drastic decision, not allowing fans to come out,? Russell said. ?But it?s in their best interests. It?s a dangerous situation.?
Play will begin at 1 p.m. from both the first and 10th tees in threesomes, with leader Hunter Mahan taking the course at 3:10 p.m. Woods, five shots back, will now tee off at 2:40 p.m. Officials were still trying to determine whether television coverage on CBS will be affected.
?Inside the ropes is going to be fine,? Russell said. ?The periphery is a mess.?
Dozens of trees were down at Congressional, both in fairways and in prime spectator areas, with broken limbs causing potentially dangerous situations. The 14th fairway was completely blocked by a fallen tree, and there is debris strewn about the course. Congressional?s staff, led by director of golf course maintenance Mike Giuffre, worked without sleep overnight to clear, among other things, four large trees that blocked entrance to the club. Another huge tree fell behind the second green, blocking access to the maintenance area, and another in the 18th fairway. Russell called the 11th fairway ?unbelievable? because of the amount of debris that had fallen in it.
?Everything that was inside the ropes was thrown outside the ropes,? Russell said. ?It?s gonna take a long time to clean this up.?
Stewart Williams, a meteorologist who works with the PGA Tour, said it?s likely that straight-line winds of about 70 mph blew through Congressional at about 10:15 p.m. and lasted roughly 45 minutes.
Play was originally slated to begin at 7:10 a.m., but no players had even arrived at the course then.
?It?s just too dangerous out here,? Russell said. ?There are a lot of hanging limbs. ? We just didn?t think it would be safe to get people out here.?
