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The AJGA
prides itself on pace of play – anyone who has come to
an event and seen the new system will back me up on that statement.
At the EDS Boys Junior Championship it was no different. Despite
its "major" status, pace still hovered around 4:20
over the four days. But if it wasn't for the 7th hole at Oakmont
Country Club, it might have been even faster.
The 7th hole was one of those Texas-style grip-it-and-rip-it
par-4s that could accommodate a Boeing 747 in the fairway.
There were no hazards. Sure there was out of bounds left and
right, but the only players who sniffed that played in the
Junior-Am, and it was the "Ams," not the Juniors.
Both
players and spectators opened up their wallets to
the Hunt brothers - to the tune of $500 for the
week. |
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The real
pace-of-play buster came 100 yards into the hole on the right
side of the fairway under one of the few shade trees on the
entire course. Where most residents, whose homes lined the
fairways of Oakmont, simply saw some of the nation's best
boy juniors walking by, the Hunt brothers saw dollar signs.
Trevor, 13, and Dusty, 9, set up camp armed with an enormous
cooler of hand-squeezed lemonade, a few bags of ice and plastic
cups the first round. After they cleared $95, they did what
every kid would do, they counted their money – over and
over.
"Will you guys be here next week, too?" Trevor,
the self-proclaimed brains of the operation, asked.
"Man, we'd be rich if you guys were here all the time,"
Dusty agreed.
They charged $1 for a small and $2 for a large. And the money
just kept rolling in. Evidently, the days of the Quarter Lemonade
Stand are long gone.
Despite the wad of cash growing bigger and bigger in their
pockets as the week progressed, they passed the time by chipping
a range ball back and forth to each other. It was a perfect
big brother / little brother combo. Trevor, big brother, would
take turns either booming his shot 100 yards over Dusty so
he had to run and fetch it or look to skull it into Dusty's
noggin'. Always giggling, but quickly retreating when the
next group of players, and business, came to the tee.
As the players and spectators inevitably stopped and forked
over the cash like they were stranded in the desert sun and
came upon an oasis, pace of play came to a halt, leaving rules
officials scrambling for their Decisions books.
Decision 6-8a/2.5 clearly states, "The Committee may
not permit players to discontinue
play for refreshment for an extended period of time..."
Will Armstrong stops by fills up his water bottle
with lemonade during the third round of play. |
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It's hard
to implement this rule, though, when the rules officials,
while scrambling for their Rules books, were also trying to
piece together enough cash to buy some lemonade themselves.
"I probably gave them $10 this week, easily," AJGA
Intern Ben Kimball said.
Steve Bailey, the assistant tournament director for the week
and penniless, found an alternative to savoring the much talked
about beverage.
"I played them closest to the bush down the fairway with
their clubs," he said proudly. "I saved some money
that way."
When it was all said and done, the tandem pocketed over $500
in fours days, got some good practice in on their games and
met some of the best junior golfers from around the world.
"Are you going to be the next Tiger Woods," they
would ask every now and then to their customers.
"I'm not sure," one junior said. "With as much
money as you guys are making though, are you going to be as
rich as Bill Gates?"
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