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Earlier today I "played" in the EDGA Mid-Am tournament. The tournament is supposed to be a 36-hole test of golf for anyone aged 25 or more and with a handicap index of 8.0 or lower. It costs $80 to enter, plus cart fees if you choose to drive a cart.

To make a long story short, I drove the ball better than I ever have, I struck the ball virtually as well as ever, and yet I didn't score well. Why?

The six inches of rain we got the prior night and morning of the event had a lot to do with it. I joked during the round that nobody could take relief from casual water because their nearest drop would be in Idaho or something. Try as I might, I couldn't figure out in 18 holes - the event was shortened - how to chip the ball out of a quarter inch of water. I was within sixty yards of four par 4s and managed to par them, and within twenty yards of several par fives and also parred them. It turns out you were better off in the rough, because at least your ball wouldn't be sitting in a puddle.

Furthermore, the practice range was closed, preventing anyone from warming up, and the practice putting green at Lake Shore is the size of a dinner table - good luck to you the first time you have a putt of more than 20 feet.

Erie doesn't exactly have a ton of golf tournaments, so I look forward to the Mid-Am. I'm incredibly disappointed with both Lake Shore and the EDGA for not refunding a portion of the entry fee but also for playing the tournament under such conditions to begin with. The tournament should have been postponed. I'm not good enough to win, but for $80 it'd be nice to play two rounds of golf as promised and to play them on a golf course which is not littered with thousands of puddles.

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