By Ken Klavon, USGA

Village of Pinehurst, N.C. – The murky clouds gave the indication that daybreak decided to hit the snooze button.

Lampposts still cascaded light as though nighttime were its visitor. Such was life at Pinehurst shortly after 8 a.m. Sunday, only because a storm ruined players' attempts to get practice time in on the No. 2 and No. 4 courses.

After .65 inches of precipitation - some of it in the form of a hard-driving rain - by 12:36 p.m. EDT, both courses were saturated. USGA officials decided that players were welcome to walk the course, but only putting would be allowed. No need to stress out the soft ground before the championship commences Monday.

Two groups did get off on time. Neither made it past the first two holes as thunder bellowed on the horizon. Twenty-one-year-old Cincinnati, Ohio, native Rob Chappell started off the 10th tee on No. 2, looking forward to the preparation involved. He took two shots before being called in. What's more, he got up at 6 a.m., only to find himself staring mundanely at historical photos on the clubhouse walls for the better part of three hours.

“I'm excited to play,” said Chappell, who qualified for his first U.S. Amateur in four tries. “Well, I would have been. If I had to pick one course to play, it would be No. 2.”

That seemed to be the consensus of many players who flooded the hallways staring incessantly at walls, cell phones or the Olympics on TV while waiting out the weather. Of course, that's understandable considering that match play will only be conducted on No. 2 as the championship progresses.

Getting a last cramming session might prove invaluable to some. Others didn't seem so bothered just as long as no one else had an unfair advantage of getting in 18. Matt Cook, a 23-year-old senior at Western Carolina University, was warming up on the range when the sirens went off. He figured he'd at least walk the course and pick up various nuances that way.

“Just a little bit,” said the Cullowhee, N.C., native when asked if a long delay had been frustrating, “but I don't mind it. The same goes for everyone else.”

Meanwhile, 20-year-old Andrey Mindirgasov of Pacific Grove, Calif., had looked forward to getting on No. 2. Like Cook, he's about to appear in his first U.S. Amateur and wanted to be as ready as possible. That's because the courses he's most familiar with are west of the Mississippi River.

Pinehurst's turtle-shelled greens, designed by Donald Ross, are perplexing enough to the most astute player. Think of how someone who never played here before might react. While browsing through more Amateur merchandise than he planned on, the greens were in the back of Mindirgasov's mind. He estimated the closest he's come to playing something similar was on the west coast.

“Spanish Bay greens are just as crazy,” said Mindirgasov, a University of California-Berkeley junior born in Moscow.

Crazy or not, Mindirgasov got his chance to tool around the greens, studying lines and breaks. It was strange watching players traverse both courses with only putters as mini-ponds gave way to puddles. The sun peeked out causing a sauna effect, which should serve as a reminder that the field will have to deal with more than proper shot selection.

The Amateur is a test of endurance. So perhaps, without knowing it, Mother Nature's outburst expended energy for some who might need it as the USGA's most arduous of championships takes it toll later in the week.

Ken Klavon is the USGA's Editor of New Media. E-mail him with questions or comments at kklavon@usga.org.