Rules Crew @ The USGA Men's State Team

The SCGA Rules Crew is back on the road, and this week Mike Sweeney is in Santa Rosa at the USGA Men's State Team at Mayacama Golf Club. Representing California are three of the state's top players, and two of them just happen to be SCGA members! Harry Rudolph III of La Jolla, the 1991 California State Amateur champion, and Jeff Wilson of Fairfield, 2008 SCGA Amateur champion, join multiple NCGA champion Randy Haag in this prestigious battle against each state's top golfers.

The USGA Men's State Team runs September 14-16; visit the event's official website for scoring and see all of Mike's photo and text updates through the championship.

View full-sized versions of Mike's photos here!

No fog delays today! The players were treated to beautiful, sunny California weather the entire day. Kansas won the title by 4 strokes over North Carolina, Rhode Island and Florida. California did not play to its potential and still finished a respectable 8th place. SCGA members, Harry Rudolph and Jeff Wilson fired great rounds today of 71 and 72 and Harry finished in 13th place individually out of 155 players. 

Today I was stationed on the 157 yard, par-3 14th hole (the USGA has a Rules Official stationed on every hole to ensure that the players have assistance if they need it. I was stationed on holes 12 and 18 for the first round and holes 6 and 7 during the second round). There was lots of excitement on this hole today, which peaked when Nebraska's Travis Minzel knocked in the only ace of the tournament with a beautiul 7-iron. There was 12 spectators watching and our cheers could be heard far across the golf course (sound travels well throughout those hills). I assisted players with lots of basic rulings throughout the week dealing with embedded balls, sprinkler head relief, water hazard relief and unplayable ball relief.

Probably the most enjoyable aspect of this tournament was meeting and chatting with all the players and family members from the different states across the country. Everyone from Alaska to Arkansas were fun to talk to and they all were quite envious of our California climate. Thanks for following along and I'll see you on the course soon.

Here's a few last pictures from the championship:

The view from behind the 404-yard, par-4 13th hole.	My station today: the 157-yard par-3 14th.	The view of the landing area on the 537-yard par-5 15th.

After 36 holes Georgia and Kansas share the 36 hole lead going into the final round tomorrow. Team California is 8 strokes back going into tomorrow’s round and will need lots of birdies during the final round to make a run at the title. The SCGA’s Harry Rudolph scored the fourth lowest round of the day with a 1 under par 70.

Once again we had a fog delay this morning. This delay was a little different than yesterday’s fog delay which engulfed the entire course. This morning we had sunny skies in the morning and a slight breeze brought the fog into the outer west edges of the course. Holes 14 and 15 were engulfed with fog that made visibility of the landing zones impossible. The USGA suspended play at 8:46 am because of this, even though the rest of the course was very playable. I was stationed on holes six and seven and we had sunny skies above us. Because play was suspended for a non-dangerous situation, players were given the option to complete play of the hole. After the hole is completed players could practice putt and chip on or around the last hole played. Most players took advantage of this option. Play resumed after a 45 minute delay and we had beautiful sunny weather the rest of the day.

For more pictures and a Team California perspective follow along with Randy Haag’s blog at www.randyhaag.com.

Last night's players dinner was really cool. Each state team captain walked in carrying his state's flag. They announced each state one by one as they walked in and an employee from Mayacama sang the national anthem!

We had an hour fog delay this morning at 8:16 (about an hour into play). We suspended play and had the groups just wait it out. Here is the USGA's policy on Fog:

"Whether to commence or continue play in a stipulated round when fog is present is a difficult decision. Fog, by its very nature, is not easy to forecast, and is challenging to predict when it will set in or lift.

"From a playability standpoint, it is the USGA's policy to commence/continue play in a stipulated round if the landing zones for all shots to be played are visible to the players. In this regard, tee shots requiring the use of drivers may present the most difficult challenge since such shots cover the most distance. Things such as fairway lines, hazards, trees, etc. in the drive zone must be visible to a large extent. However, the fact that visibility is partially obscurred by fog such that the entire flight of the ball is not possible does not generally require a decision to delay/suspend play."

We have a strong team this year representing California! Let's follow Harry Rudolph, Jeff Wilson and Randy Haag online and root them on!! Here's my photos from the last couple of days:

The view of the first tee and 18th green from Mayacama's clubhouse.	It's Bobbie Perreira, caddie for Jeff Wilson, sporting the California caddie bib.	View of the 18th green and clubhouse from the fairway. Pretty spectacular.
The flag ceremony the night before tee off. Each team's captain carried his state flag.	Major fog delay the first round. You can hardly see the course from the clubhouse!	It's me, Mike Sweeney, on the second hole. I'm here as a Rules Official this week.
Harry Rudolph III tees off on the first hole. Nice shot, Harry.	It's SCGA member Joe Sanders, 2010 Foursomes champion, playing for Nevada!	The scoreboard for the 9th USGA Men's State Team Championship.
Here's how California looks on the scoreboard; each team was labeled with its state flag.	There's a lot of wildlife at Mayacama, including many wild turkeys on the course.