Strong winds that started in the morning eventually caused a suspension of play Tuesday afternoon at the Prestige men’s college golf tournament at the Greg Norman Course at PGA West.
Play was suspended at 3:08 p.m., with onsite USGA officials saying sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph made it necessary to stop play. Mark Weissman, director and founder of the tournament, said the wind was causing problems for officials because it would die down only to strengthen again just a few minutes later.
Play resumed at 4:30 p.m., with 13 teams still on the course. Twelve of the 24 teams in the event were unable to complete 18 holes Tuesday before play was suspended a second time, this time for darkness. The Prestige is scheduled to end with 18 holes Wednesday, but officials were still working on a plan Tuesday afternoon about how to possibly complete the second round and then play the third round.
The winds were strong in the mid-morning for the first wave of tee times in the 24-team field, but then calmed down. But for the afternoon wave of tee times, the winds kicked up again, causing the suspension.
UC Davis, the host team, held the lead at 14-over par as a team including a 3-over par round Tuesday, but Davis players still have as many as nine holes to finish in their second round. Oregon was at 19-over par, with Kansas at 20-over for the tournament.
Among the teams that completed the second round, Texas Tech had the low two-day score at 25-over 593, including a 10-over 294 on Tuesday in the five-play, four-count format. That puts the Red Raiders five shots ahead of Vanderbilt, which had shared the first-round lead but ballooned to 27-over in the second round for a 30-over two-day score.
Despite the wind, some players were able to shoot low scores. Ludvig Aberg of Texas Tech fired a 2-under 69 on Tuesday to take the individual lead in the event at 2-under 140.
None of the 65 players in the adjoining individual tournament played at nearby Coral Mountain Golf Club managed to even match par-72 on the windy day. Ian Milspat of Pepperdine was one of three golfers to lead after the first two days at 4-under, but Milspat managed a 2-over 74 on Tuesday to hold a two-shot lead over Ben Sigel of Kansas and Alejandro Gonzalez of Texas.
