On Wednesday September 28th we departed for Virginia Beach to participate in the Evie Odom Invitational hosted by Old Dominion University. At 10 a.m. that morning I received a text from the host coach indicating a "change" in the schedule of play due to Hurricane Ian that was making its way up the coast. Thursday was to be our practice round day, as is the norm for most tournaments.
We were told that our first competitive round was to begin Thursday at 1:30 p.m. and if we wanted to see or play the course, we could do that Wednesday afternoon or Thursday from 10 a.m. to Noon only. Both options were not ideal when we cannot leave campus until our classes are done, which is typically 3 p.m. most afternoons. With only two hours in the morning, it was hardly enough time to see each hole let alone play the holes. We pulled in to Virginia Beach at around 11 p.m. and rose the next day to race through the course, take our notes and determine our "game plan". Fortunately, some of the players had been to this tournament last season and were able to formulate a reasonable attack of the opponent, the Princess Anne Country Club. However, none of us could have predicted what would happen halfway through our round.
What seemed like a fairly reasonable windy day of 20 mph winds suddenly turned into something more out of the Wizard of Oz, as winds kicked up 30 to 40 mph and gusts of 50! Yikes. I must have looked like a sight to my players with my hoodie up and tied around my chin just to keep my hat on! The sand blowing out of the bunkers felt like small needles hitting your face. Standing next to a player to help them with a club selection it was difficult to hear or understand what we were saying to one another. I kept wondering when this tournament would be called for lack of playability and fairness to the players. It finally happened, but not after four of our players went through this dreadful hole and our team dropped from out of third position to ninth! Luck of the draw to where we started the day in the shotgun event.
The hole was playing so difficult at one point we had our entire team on the same tee box because of how much time it took to get a group through the hole. We came in with 3-4 holes left to play while some of the field had completed their round based on where they started. There was talk of the round getting canceled all together because of what seemed an unfair situation. However, many of the coaches were not in favor of canceling the round and wanted to get a 54-hole tournament completed.
With Hurricane Ian on its way and inevitably landing in Virginia Beach the next day we were sure to not play on Friday. It was determined after much deliberation that we would complete round one on Saturday and continue playing to complete round two the same day.
We spent Friday in our hotel rooms, catching up on schoolwork (or so I hoped), getting a workout in, and watching two transformers blow across the street along with a church steeple that was lifted off the roof and spearheaded to the ground. We could watch the ocean waves crashing the shoreline outside our windows and palm trees bent sideways in the fierce winds that blew. We talked of possibly going to the movies just down the road, but even that seemed to be too dangerous to venture out in our van. I was relieved when I knew the team was okay staying at the hotel. The host coach kindly offered to deliver pizza and salads to the teams so we wouldn't have to find a place for dinner. We managed to get through the night as the storm continued its rage, causing a couple short blackouts, ceiling tiles falling in my room and half the carpet soaked from the water leaking in through the sliding glass door.
When I woke the next morning, I looked outside, it was if nothing had happened. The sun was rising up over the much smaller ocean waves, and people were already starting their day with a morning jog or stroll along the boardwalk. As the song goes, "what a difference a day makes". However, Ian did leave his mark, when you went out about the town you noticed debris, some fallen trees and yes the church steeple sticking in the hill behind the church where it came down so violently the night before, lay there peacefully.
The golf course crew were up in the early hours working tirelessly to prepare each hole for what was hopefully the remainder of the championship. As was decided we went out to finish our first round that afternoon. It was a different day, a different experience, and a different result. We went on to complete the remaining holes even par, which is not always easy to do! We sat in ninth place! The team rallied in the second round, shooting one of the best rounds of the day, firing 6-under, 274, and moved up to second place! Teams in the top six spots were only separated by a shot or two after 36-holes.
Sunday morning was lovely and we were able to complete our final round. All-in-all, with how we began, the hurdles the team had to get over, from almost no practice round, to playing in gale force winds, to rallying back, I believe we had some "wins" this past weekend! We will carry the small "wins" with us as we prepare for our next adventure! I am proud of this team, they held themselves together with maturity and poise! Yes, what a difference a day makes and what a difference we can make in a day!
