Contenders eagerly work through their final preparation
Few, if any, PGA Professionals have the time to prepare properly for the PGA Professional National Championship while also doing their jobs, so getting in some good on-site practice time and strategizing are at the top of their priority list right now.
By T.J. Auclair, Junior Editor
VERONA, N.Y. -- With duties that include teaching, stocking a golf shop with product, keeping members happy and pretty much overseeing every aspect of a golf course's operation, PGA Professionals don't get to play a whole lot of golf.
That fact is arguably one of life's biggest misconceptions.
For a while during early-week practice rounds of the 39th PGA Professional National Championship at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in central New York, Mother Nature didn't seem to care that the hard workers didn't get to play much.
Heavy rains forced a two-hour delay on Monday, while threatening skies on Tuesday resulted in another stoppage of play that lasted roughly one hour.
Over at Atunyote Golf Club -- the host course for the National Championship, parts of which also will be played at nearby Shenendoah Golf Club over the first two rounds -- players were huddled under the entrance to the extravagant New England-style clubhouse waiting out the rain.
"Weather is weather," said Ron Stelten from The Palms Golf Club in La Quinta, Calif., who is making his sixth start in the National Championship. "You can't get frustrated by it. That's just the way it is. There was a successful businessman who once said, 'don't ever invest in a business that depends on the weather.' Going by that point of view, you just take what you can get. The weather is the same for everyone."
Indeed it is, but for someone like Chad Behrends, who is making his National Championship debut this week and hoping to play both courses before the tournament gets under way, the weather is a real bummer.
"It's tough. Hopefully we can get some holes in today," said Behrends, the assistant professional of the Milwaukee Country Club in Wisconsin. "I have an early tee time tomorrow morning at Shenendoah. I'm hoping I'll be able to get done early enough there so that I can come back over here and finish up and at least get all 36 holes in before the tournament starts on Thursday rather than getting out there and playing blind on those holes that I missed. We'll see how it goes."
The National Championship tees off on Thursday morning with 312 competitors playing over two courses with hopes of winning the prestigious Walter Hagen Cup, named after the legendary golfer who was five times a PGA Champion and one of the 35 original founders of the PGA of America.
While it's clear that players want to bring their best game to both courses, the majority of them could be found at the believed-to-be-more-difficult Atunyote on Tuesday. Atunyote is a par 72 that stretches out to 7,297 yards and plays a shade under 300 yards longer than Shenendoah. Competitors will get a crack at each of those courses once over the first two rounds, while those who make the 36-hole cut will play exclusively at Atunyote on the weekend.
"It's a little frustrating when we have weather delays," said Adam Pohll from Rancho Murieta Country Club in California. "We're trying to strategize on two very tough golf courses. From what I've heard about Atunyote, there's a lot of strategy that's involved -- Shenendoah not as much -- but this one specifically. We're trying to get out there. We've been trying to get out there all day and then this happens. It's been pretty tough. We've been hitting a lot of balls."
How many balls?
"More than we get to hit all year," Pohll laughed. "So this is great. I feel fine and I'm just glad to be here."
Not everyone will be taking a lack of experience at these two beautiful resort courses into the National Championship.
Ben Hoffhine, the head professional at Wykagyl Country Club in New Rochelle, N.Y., which is just down the road from Winged Foot Golf Club, where last week's U.S. Open was played, finished eighth in the New York State PGA Section Championship at Atunyote one month ago.
As Hoffine points out, the conditions in that tournament were quite different than the comfortable mid-70-degree temperatures engulfing Atunyote on Tuesday.
"A month ago it was snowing, so a little rain is not that bad," he said. "The two golf courses are awesome and it'll be interesting with such a big field. The PGA does a great job with this tournament and it should be a fun week."
For guys whose life revolve around golf but don't get to play often, how do they prepare for a championship of this magnitude?
"It's funny, people ask me if I'm ready and I say, 'Well, I've spent one month practicing for a year's worth of time,' " Pohll said. "You practice as best you can, but you just don't know. You prepare the best you can, but when you're working full time, it's just not as easy. Hopefully we can be ready."
"If you're teaching, it's funny, because there's a little bit extra time in your lesson book that's been X-ed off," Stelten said. "I'm sure everybody in this tournament has their own system. I certainly focused quite a bit of attention on my game the last two weeks. I've had plenty of time to build up for it, so now all I can hope for is to come in with a good game. It's like being in high school and cramming for the big exam -- it's two or three days of serious practice."
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