Weather Again Gets in the Way at Glendale

It could have been worse. There could have been worms.

As rain pelted the Oakmont Country Club, forcing postponement of the Los Angeles Women’s Championship early in the second round, players were reminded of the creepy, crawly, good-old days.

In the mid-1980s, the Glendale course played host to three wintertime LPGA events, all of which suffered through varying amounts of rain, fog and even hail.

It rained so hard during a 1986 tournament that worms squirmed up from the flooded greens.

“I don’t remember this golf course not being wet,” tour veteran Val Skinner said. “We’ve always had at least one day of flaky weather here.”

Saturday’s rain wasn’t as severe as in past years, but it fell strongly enough to force players inside at 10 a.m. and force LPGA officials to shorten the event to 36 holes.

Play was scheduled to resume at 8 a.m. today. If the golfers cannot finish the second and final round by sundown, they will try again Monday.

“It was just miserable,” said Michelle McGann, who slogged through seven holes Saturday. “You didn’t know if clubs were going to be flying out of your hands or where the ball was going to stop.”

Skinner completed nine holes before the greens became submerged.

“El Nino, right?” she said. “We’re just getting to feel what you guys are going through.”

Bad weather has become a fixture in professional golf recently. The PGA Tour was hammered by rain at Pebble Beach and La Jolla. The LPGA had to add a day to a Florida tournament last month.

At Oakmont, a steady downpour interrupted the $650,000 event that began Friday under clear skies.

Hiromi Kobayashi holds a three-stroke lead after shooting a five-under 67 in the first round. Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb and Helen Alfredsson are clustered near the top of a field that features 95 of the top 100 money winners from last year.

Janice Moodie is a surprise name on the leaderboard, a qualifier who is tied for second with a two-under 70. Moodie was hoping for a chance to build on her momentum.

“Being from Scotland, I’ve been wet a few times,” the Glasgow rookie said. “I’m eager to go out and play.”

Instead, she and the others milled around the clubhouse, watching the skies for signs of clearing, wondering if the LPGA might suffer its first washed-out tournament since at least 1982. Veterans traded Oakmont war stories.

Like the time in 1985 when Kathy Whitworth stood on the course with her hands on her hips, saying: “We can’t play out here. It’s hailing.”

Or the following year when putts were obstructed by worms that surfaced on the greens.

“There are probably some out there right now,” Skinner said. “Oh, well, it’s sunny California.”