Storms play havoc with Real Okie opening round
May 23—After a four-hour weather delay, play resumed in the first round of the All Pro Tour Green Country Behavioral Health Services Real Okie Championship at Muskogee Golf Club around 12:15 p.m.
For APT Tournament Operations Manager Taylor Deike, it's just another day dealing with an outdoor sport.
"They're playing preferred lies," she said. "It's pretty wet out there. The only problem the rain created is we won't be able to complete the first round and we're having to go into another day."
The 2023 tournament was also affected because of weather. The harsh winter the area suffered from caused a delay in the growth of the grass on the course and it would not have been playable, moving the scheduled from mid-May to the end of July.
Deike has been with APT since January of 2022. Her career in golf has almost as short, having played volleyball, softball and basketball at Chapel Hill High School in Tyler, Texas. It was during her time as an undergraduate at Texas A&M that she got involved in golf.
"I went overseas and traveled for about five months instead of going to college," she said. "When COVID hit I got into golf then. I'm very competitive and got hooked. I got a job at a golf course and an internship with Northern Texas PGA to finish my degree.
"I play for fun. I like being happy on a golf course."
There are 131 players in the field. The first two rounds of the tournament will be played on split tees — half the field teeing off on the first hole and the other half on the 10th hole.
Because of the delayed start, 66 players were still on the course when play was halted because of darkness. They had to return Thursday morning to complete their first round and start their second round.
The tournament is set for 72 holes, 18 holes in each round, After two rounds, 36 holes, the field will be trimmed to the top 35% and ties for the final two rounds. The tournament concludes on Saturday unless the weather plays a part in play.
"They understand we will never put them out there in unfair conditions," Deike said. "There are some puddles but there are also areas that they can play the ball that does not have any standing water. There's also rules in place to help with those kind of situations."
She also said that if a day gets totally washed out, the tournament would be shortened and would still end Saturday.
"We'll never ever plan to go into a Sunday," Deike said. "The only reason while we'll go into a Sunday is if we started on Saturday and have round four going, and we genuinely thought we would finish on Saturday and a pop-up storm happened and we had about six holes left, then we'll go into Sunday. But we'll never plan on starting a round if it goes into a Sunday."
