What’s the Scottish saying? Nae wind, nae rain, nae golf. Whoever first uttered that phrase probably didn’t account for the wind blowing 60 kilometres per hour (kph).
Those were the conditions on a brutally windy day Monday at Rustic Canyon in the United States, which hosted the Southern California Golf Association’s Tournament of Club Champions. The 18-hole strokeplay event is open to any SoCal club champion who has a handicap index of 2.4 or lower. Ninety-three players entered. Just 67 survived.
The wind was so bad that it caused 24 players to withdraw from the event, in addition to one DNF (did not finish) and one NS (no start). It’s hard to blame them after hearing what it was like from someone who played in the event. Andy Ho, who won his club championship at The Vineyard GC and shot 100 on Monday, tweeted out some inside info:
Won my club championships earlier this yr. Tourney for all champs was yesterday at Rustic Canyon. Conditions were brutal w 30-40 mph gusts. Putts would not stay on greens. The guy putting is a +1. @thescga proly should hv cancelled https://t.co/S0NlkG2Hhp @the_fried_egg
— Andy Ho (@andyho98) December 8, 2020
Incredibly, Ho’s 100 was not the high score of the event. Six players shot higher scores, including a 51-over 123. Just two players broke 80, the winning score a six-over 78 from Silver Lakes CC’s Ricky Montanez. In another tweet, Ho claimed that there was just one birdie carded in his foursome the entire day, and it came from a player who also made a 10, 12 and an 18. That player is Grant Beachley, who shot the 123:
https://twitter.com/lordmichaeld/status/1336462885522788356?s=20
As impressive as Montanez’s winning 78 is, Beachley toughing out a 123 with an 18 might be even more impressive. It takes an immense amount of pride-swallowing to do that. According to Ho, Beachley 12-putted (!!!) the 18th:
yeah, i liked the track. links style is gr8 for socal. but we had multiple 4 & 5 putt greens. the guy in our group that had the lone birdie of the day also carded a 10, 12, and yes, an 18 (12 putted the 18th – the rest of us just 4 putted it). all of us are 2 hdcp or better. 🤪
— Andy Ho (@andyho98) December 8, 2020
Beachley should be given some sort of medal for this gritty performance. Here’s footage of what these guys were dealing with. No, this is not Beachley putting. Just some other poor soul:
What a scene at Rustic Canyon yesterday! Consistent gusts of 30-40 and slippery greens led to some interesting #s:
-2 guys broke 80 (both 1st group out)
-26 WDs in a field of 93
-a 2-handicap shot 123
-This video by @techtrainingtip of Mark, a +1, 6-putting: pic.twitter.com/uuMQGkJxzv— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) December 9, 2020
Nuts. There’s “carnage” and then there’s “we should probably cancel this thing due to the hurricane-like winds which has made the course unplayable.”
