Golfers test skills in difficult conditions

The goal of Saturday's Superintendent's Revenge Golf Tournament at the Fort Belvoir Golf Club was to mirror the course conditions of the PGA's U.S. Open.

Club staff set up the Gunston course to test the skills of the 101 players in the tournament.

Players battled longer rough, championship caliber distance and difficult pin placements throughout the day.

"We set the course up to emulate a U.S. Open-type of golf course," Jeff Lychwick, director of golf at Fort Belvoir said. "All of the men are playing from the championship tees. They never play those. The women are playing from the blue tees."

By playing the championship tees, the men played the course at its entire length of over 7,000 yards.

Course Superintendent Marty Maurer had hoped to make the greens even more difficult for the participants.

"We had planned on making the greens faster," Maurer said. "But, because of all the rain, we were unable to make those changes."

What the staff didn't count on was Mother Nature lending a hand to make the tournament even more difficult than originally planned.
A steady rain fell throughout the course of the tournament and even suspended play for roughly 30 minutes.

Steady periods of heavy rain and light fog kept competitors from tracking their ball on some shots.

Retired Marine Corps Col. Jim Leslie enjoyed playing in the tournament and joked that the conditions reminded him of his military experience.

"This has been great. It reminded me of Vietnam with the rain, jungle, birds chirping, and helicopters flying," Leslie said. "It was great playing from the black tees, I have never done that before.

"It really changes the course when you play from back there," Leslie said.

The most difficult part of the tournament for Leslie wasn't a big surprise.

"The rain was definitely the most difficult part," Leslie said. "Because of the rain, the course was extra soft."

Thomas Utegaard had the top gross score on the day with a score of 78. Dave Lunasco had the top net score on the day with a 74.

The tournament had a longest drive and closest to the pin challenge on holes ten and five, respectively.

Andrew Snyder won the largest drive competition and Barbara Miller won the closest to the pin challenge.