The first round of the Invitational Pro-am had to be abandoned after persistent heavy rain waterlogged the fairways at the La Reserva Club in Southern Spain today, Thursday.
Of the 52 two-man pro am teams assembled on the Mediterranian coast at Sotogrande only two groups were able to play nine holes before they were recalled to the clubhouse.
And while the sun appeared briefly as the players were taking lunch the forecast of more thunder and lightning in the afternoon meant it could dangerous for them to return to the course.
Because no team had completed 18 holes the scores for the morning’s play were not officially recorded.
As a result the original 72-hole tournament was cut to 54-holes with another first round scheduled for Friday morning at the San Roque old course.
The decision to abandon play was taken by the PGA of Europe’s tournament director Robert Moss who said:”After play had been suspended for more than two hours it got to the stage where we had reached a point of no return.
“We knew daylight would end before the round could be completed and moving on to a second course for the second round there would not have been the opportunity to complete the round in the morning.
“When we suspended play the greens here at La Reserva were still putting well – they were awesome given the weather – but the fairways were unplayable. There was no relief available from casual water. It would have been unfair to ask the players to continue in those conditions.”
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