A Herculean effort by Carnoustie greenkeepers has kept the prestigious Dunhill Links Championship on course.
The prestigious event faced a complete washout after a weekend of torrential rain in Tayside and Fife.
It led to the cancellation of play at all three venues – St Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie – on both Saturday and Sunday.
It's a miracle!
Somehow the Dunhill Links is underway, and it's thanks to some remarkable greens keeping… 🌊
⬇️⬇️⬇️https://t.co/HlN1Fmx68e
— bunkered (@BunkeredOnline) October 9, 2023
The £5million event’s spectacular fireworks display also fell victim to the severe weather warning.
And it prompted television presenter and tournament regular Piers Morgan to jokingly call for a snorkel to take on the St Andrews conditions.
He has been taking part alongside a host of celebs including Hollywood stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Bill Murray and Andy Garcia.
Legendary Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway and music stars including Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres, Ronan Keating and Keane’s Tom Chaplin are also in the field.
But the majority of fans harboured little hope of the tournament going ahead when they saw the state of the Angus links at the weekend.
Much of the closing stretch was completely under water from the flooded Barry Burn.
However, the storm relented overnight on Sunday.
‘Unreal effort’
And after the Carnoustie greenkeeping team swung into action from first light, organisers were able to press on with their plans for the truncated 54-hole event.
Sky Sports golf presenter Josh Antmann said it was “incredible” Carnoustie was playing after posting a photo of the flooded 17th on Sunday.
Unreal effort from all the greenkeepers, and people who work at the Dunhill, to get the courses fit for play. The picture below, from yesterday, you would think it had no chance of going ahead. Incredible.@DPWorldTour @dunhilllinks pic.twitter.com/eNNufyidS2
— Josh Antmann (@JoshAntmann) October 9, 2023
There was a shotgun start over Carnoustie’s 18 holes, with 1st and 10th tee starts at the two Fife courses.
St Andrews was the only course open to spectators on Monday.
Ryder Cup hero Matt Fitzpatrick holds a one-shot lead going into the final round.
And in the pro-am event, the Englishman is in second position with his mum, Susan, a shot behind Julien Gurrier and Stephane Connery, step-son of the late Sir Sean Connery.
