Hail beats a retreat

Jun 19 2009 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

BLAIRGOWRIE Golf Club was on the receiving end of a freak hailstorm which sent golfers running for cover.

It might be mid-June but the weather turned nasty on Sunday.

A club match between Blairgowrie and Carnoustie had to be abandoned as greens were snowed under by hefty hailstones and bunkers bore the brunt of a dramatic transformation in the weather.

Golfers had teed-off in glorious sunshine but were forced to beat a retreat to the clubhouse after enduring attrocious conditions that club captain Roy Sinclair described as “unique.”

Blairgowrie general manager Ron McLaren said: “It caused a lot of problems. The conditions were really extreme.

“Play couldn’t continue and our greenkeeping staff had a lot of work to do.

“The bunkers were awash after the hailstones melted and the rain continued to fall.

“They were like swimming pools. They had to be pumped out before the start of the club championships.

“It’s incredible to think this happened in the June but I suppose that’s the Scottish weather for you.”

One player on the receiving end of the dramatic downpour said: “It was incredible. The skies darkened and there had been a rumble of thunder. But we were forced to take cover for half an hour as hailstones hammered down. They were pretty chunky.

“The greens and fairways were littered with them and there was no way golf could continue. Then it turned to rain and that’s when the bunkers began to flood.

“Ironically we’d started off the round slapping on suntan lotion!”