Myrtle Beach World Amateur loses most of its rounds Monday

The 32nd Myrtle Beach World Amateur Handicap Championship managed to dodge the remnants of former Tropical Storm Erika, but it couldn’t avoid the impact of typical August showers on the Carolinas coast.

Heavy rain Sunday and Monday morning that saturated golf courses resulted in the cancellation of the first round in all but six of the tournament’s 72 flights on Monday.

The courses that hosted rounds in the six flights were all on the North end of the Grand Strand – Crown Park Golf Club, Meadowlands Golf Club and Farmstead Golf Links.

“What we tell the courses is if we can get started by 11 a.m., then we feel good about getting done in time to give people time to get back and get cleaned up and not have to miss out on any of the 19th Hole stuff [at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center],” tournament director Jeff Monday said. “With the amount of rain we got [Sunday] and the heaviness and length of the rain this morning, we lost most of the rounds this morning.”

Monday marked the first time since 2012 that rounds were lost in the event, which this year features 3,350 players from 48 states and 28 countries. Each flight has an average of 46 players.

Tournament organizers are hopeful they’ll stage the remaining three rounds for all participants leading up to Friday’s championship round at the Barefoot Resort Dye Club based on a Weather Channel forecast that calls for just a 20- to 40-percent chance of rain Tuesday through Friday.

“I am extremely optimistic we’ll be able to get the next three rounds in,” Monday said. “I expect it will be a 54-hole tournament for most participants.”

This story was originally published August 31, 2015 at 1:07 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach World Amateur loses most of its rounds Monday."