Rain didn’t stop spectators at Jefferson Lehigh Valley Classic. For golfers, it was a different test.
Despite wet conditions, the tournament saw 30,000 fans at Lehigh Country Club. The course also brought a different test for the golfers who are used to playing on bermuda grass.
ALLENTOWN – The weekend before the Jefferson Lehigh Valley Classic at Lehigh Country Club a nor’easter hit the area leaving debris, tree limbs, large puddles, and a tree down on the course.
John Chassard, superintendent of Lehigh Country Club in charge of the maintenance, said he brought his wife to the course last Saturday and after seeing the damage, she started to cry and say, “I’m so sorry.”
“None of us wanted to see the rain happen but that’s one of those things,” Chassard said. “This is what we do, we can’t control the weather.”
In the weeks leading up to the tournament, his grounds crew of 25 to 30 staff members along with 40 to 45 volunteers from local golf courses in the area worked to prepare the golf course for dry, firm conditions. But with 2 ½ inches of rain and wind, that wasn’t the case.
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They spent last Sunday before the tournament cleaning the course and getting it back to playable conditions for the legends of golf.
“I can’t stress enough how much it is a team effort,” Chassard said. “We had the best laid plans and that got thrown out the window. That’s the way this business works because weather dictates everything. But if you have the people and the support and everybody working together, you overcome that.”
The wet conditions during the tournament, however, didn’t stop more than 30,000 fans from watching it. It marked the second highest attendance on PGA Tour Champions schedule this year.
Steven Alker shot a final round 4-under 66 to capture the inaugural trophy. This is his third victory in his last four starts.
Alker said he was unsure earlier in the week whether he would play, which left him without the chance to play a practice round and get familiar with the William S. Flynn-designed course.
“I was struggling early in the week actually with my body but big shout out to my trainer Tyson Marostica,” Alker said. “He got me going on Friday morning and I was actually kind of lucky to tee it up.”
Midway through his round on Friday, Alker’s caddie had to leave because of personal issues, so local 20-year-old caddie Whyatt O’Rourke filled in.
“I caught up with him on Thursday,” Alker said. “We met and had a chat and then all of a sudden he’s caddying for me on 9 on Friday. It’s a pretty cool story to have a local boy caddying, and he did a great job.”
The bent grass on a Northeastern golf course was a different test for the players this week, as they typically play on bermuda grass in the south.
“When you get old school, old style golf course it’s untouched,” Alker said. “It’s pretty special and it makes you think a little bit more about where you hit it off the tee, where you putt from, where you miss it.”
The tournament is scheduled to come back to Lehigh Country Club for the next five years.
“I hope that this tournament’s a huge success and that after five years we’ll want to extend it and Jefferson wants to do this forever,” said tournament director Tommy Sullivan.
