NEARLY THREE-QUARTERS of a century ago, another Atlantic hurricane battered the Eastern Seaboard with much of its ferocious power focused on New York City, Long Island and surrounding coastal communities.
The Long Island Express Hurricane battered the East Coast from Sept. 20-22, 1938.
On Sept. 21, two of the 145 golfers competing in the United States Senior Golf Association championship each decided to play their round in the middle of the tempest.
The field had braved a downpour on day one of the tournament as the storm ventured closer to landfall.
As conditions worsened overnight and into the morning of the second day of play the field was given the option to take a delay and ride the storm out or play the course.
Findlay S. Douglas — former head of the USGA — and Richard S. Francis chose to play the course and posted scores of 90 and 93 respectively.
They competed through newly-spawned streams, ponds and dodged falling tree limbs during their round at Apawamis Country Club in Rye, N.Y.
A photo published in the New York Times on Sept. 22 shows Douglas “splashing” out of a fairway that was inundated to at least the calves of his caddie.
I couldn’t find any mention of a winner for the event, which leads me to believe the storm cancelled play and turned leisure time into cleanup time.
To help the folks dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, you can donate directly to the American Red Cross at
www.redcross.org.
Clallam best ball
The first Clallam County Best Ball Tournament will be held at SunLand Golf & Country Club in Sequim on Saturday, Nov. 17, and wrap up at Peninsula Golf Club in Port Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 18.
A 10 a.m. shotgun start will kick things off at SunLand, and a 9 a.m. start will open the final day of play at Peninsula.
Entry fees are $160 for the general public and $100 for members of SunLand and Peninsula.
Food and course prizes are included.
Players will compete for a $4,800 purse based on a full field of 60 teams, and there will be daily honey pots for players to go after.
Ladies are encouraged to form teams and compete; eight teams are needed to have a separate division for women.
Entries can be picked up at Peninsula Golf Club or phone and SunLand Golf & Country Club.
Glow golf outings
Friday night glow golf events have started at Discovery Bay Golf Club near Port Townsend and will continue “until conditions force us to cancel.”
Play currently tees off at 7:30 p.m., but the tee time will likely move up as darkness descends earlier and earlier each week.
Golfers are asked to arrive 30 minutes early to get their glow ball equipment and meet their teammates.
Cost is $10 for the nine holes, plus a fee for the night golf equipment.
Golfers should bring a flashlight to navigate potential pratfalls like sand traps and wooded areas.
Single players are welcome, and if you have foursome together, that’s your team.
Phone the clubhouse at 360-385-0704 to get in the game.
Also at Discovery Bay, $10 golf Saturdays will begin this Saturday and continue through November.
Golfers can play their choice of nine or 18 holes for $10.
State’s top players
Silverdale’s Erynne Lee was named Women’s Player of the Year for the fourth time in five years by the Washington State Golf Association.
Lee, a sophomore on the UCLA women’s golf team, was a quarterfinalist at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and had a top-30 finish in the NCAA Championships.
She earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors and played on the U.S. team in the 2012 Women’s World Team Amateur Championship.
University of Washington senior Chris Williams was named Men’s Player of the Year after winning the Washington State Amateur by 10 strokes, earning medalist honors and eventually winning the Western Amateur, making it to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur and was the individual runner-up in the World Team Amateur Championship, held in Turkey.
Williams currently holds the No. 1 spot in the World Amateur Rankings, and received the 2012 Mark H. McCormack Medal, which is given annually by The R&A and the USGA recognizing the world’s leading amateur golfer.
Other winners were Yasue Alkins of Lacey, Senior Women’s Player of the Year; Frank Garber of Kirkland, Junior Boys Player of the Year; and Jordan Ferreira of University Place, Junior Girls Player of the Year.
Tom Brandes of Bellevue swept the Men’s Senior and Mid-Amateur Player of the Year categories, while Leslie Folsom of Seattle was named the inaugural Women’s Mid-Amateur Player of the Year.
Ferreira, a recent Notre Dame commit, won the Pacific Northwest Junior Girls’ Amateur Championship held at SunLand Golf & Country Club in Sequim and finished second in the Class 4A Girls State Golf Tournament.
Jaws-themed round
Usually it’s the swallows that flock back to the Southern California city of San Juan Capistrano, not sharks.
Last week a 2-foot-long leopard shark ended up near the 12th tee at San Juan Hills Golf Club, according to The Associated Press.
The 2-pound leopard shark was apparently plucked from the ocean by a bird then dropped on San Juan Hills Golf Club, according to Melissa McCormack, director of club operations.
No players were on the tee when the shark fell from the sky, although a group had just gone through.
A course marshal saw something moving around on the tee and went to investigate.
He found the shark bleeding with puncture wounds, where the bird likely grasped the animal.
The marshal put the shark in his golf cart and drove it back to the clubhouse.
Staffers wanted to help the small shark, so they stuck it in a bucket of water.
Then they remembered it wasn’t a fresh water animal, so they stirred up some “homemade sea water” using sea salt from the kitchen, McCormack told the AP.
Course staffers drove the shark down to the Pacific where it shook off its sluggishness and swam back to sea.
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Golf columnist Michael Carman can be reached at 360-417-3527 or pdngolf@gmail.com.