Rain Douses Men’s Amateur Third Round

Word came from the clubhouse at Balboa Park Golf Course around 9:15 a.m., but the heavens had been sending a strong message for more than three hours when the third round of the San Diego Men’s Amateur Championship was cancelled because of a thunderstorm Saturday.

Most of the players who had followed the 6 a.m. opening tee-off, drenched by rain and unnerved by the persistent thunder and lightning, breathed a sigh of relief and headed for shelter when the official word finally came from Red Eledge, assistant tournament director.

“We had a tremendous downpour and the greens were getting flooded,” Eledge said shortly after play was stopped. “Plus, the lightning was striking very close.”

Too close for comfort for tournament leader Pat Duncan of San Diego and his foursome, which had just teed off on the 12th hole but had been looking over their shoulders from the start.

“Visually, (the lightening) looked close, though sometimes there was a good span before you heard the thunder,” Duncan said. “But on the PGA Tour, we would never have started.”

Duncan, who finished the first two rounds at Torrey Pines last weekend with a two-stroke lead at 140, said he wanted to finish the round. Through 11 holes he was three under par and figured he had extended his lead to three or four shots before all was washed out.

The third round won’t be replayed. The tournament will proceed to today’s final round at the par-72, 7,021-yard Torrey Pines South, which was closed at 10:50 a.m. Saturday. Tee-off is at 7 a.m., weather permitting. John Walter, tournament director and course manager at Torrey Pines, said if play has to be cancelled at any time today, the leader after the last completed round will be named champion.

“We’ll revert to the 36-hole total and declare Duncan the winner,” Walter said. “We have other tournaments booked, and there’s nowhere to fit this in.”

The thundershowers were remnants of the Pacific hurricane Boris, which began to move into San Diego Friday. Boris’ bite was gone, but it still had plenty of bark when Duncan’s foursome teed off a 6 a.m. Jon Erickson, tied for fourth at 145 and among that group, said he had trouble concentrating after his second shot. Then he nearly came unglued when a nearby bolt struck while he prepared for a three-foot putt for par on the second hole.

“I saw flash, flash, then I sank the putt and got the hell off the green,” he said. “All the way through the second hole we were looking up and talking about quitting.

“I would say (the lightning originated) within 10 miles.”

“It seemed a lot closer than that, more like one or two miles away,” said Ken Earle, who started the day two strokes behind four-time champion Duncan and was playing at even par when play was suspended. “It was the worst lightning I’ve played in, in San Diego. When you’re setting on the tee with a driver in your hand, it’s not a real comfortable feeling.”

Four of the 83 players actually withdrew, including two who walked off in the middle of the round.

One player who wished the officials had decided to wait-out the storm was Craig Anderson, who came in tied with Erickson and first-round leader Rick Lindemann five shots back. Anderson was four strokes under par and was lining up an eight-foot putt for what might have been his fifth birdie on the 10th hole when play was stopped.

“I knew I had to shoot a 66 (on the par-72 Balboa to possibly catch Duncan),” Anderson said. “I might have done better. I felt pretty good.”