The 100th U.S. Open last month at Pebble Beach was affected by a weather condition that is not at all unusual to the Monterey Peninsula: fog. Because of a dense bank of fog that came ashore Thursday, play was suspended a few minutes before 4 p.m. as players were unable to see where to aim or where their balls would land. Unfortunately, because the fog persisted until well into early evening, Thursday's first round was not concluded until Friday and the second round until Saturday.

Administrators well versed in the conduct of championship golf have methods to inform players that play is being suspended (or resumed), but because rapidly developing or moving storms are commonplace in many areas of the country, every course should have a clear and recognizable way to inform players that they should immediately seek shelter from the weather.

The golf carts at some facilities have a global positioning satellite system that provides an immediate calculation of the distance from the cart to the hole. One additional feature of this technology is the ability to send a message from the golf shop, which is a good way to warn all golfers.

Some courses have a siren, blown when bad weather is approaching, that can be heard from all points on the course, and this, too, may be an acceptable way of alerting players.

There are two types of suspensions. The first is those for unsafe situations, such as the presence of lightning nearby, a threat of tornadoes or other serious storms. The second is a suspension for a non-threatening situation, such as approaching darkness or, in the case of this Open, fog.

In the first example, all players must discontinue play immediately once the alert has been sounded. If players have already begun the play of a hole and they wish to mark the location of their ball, this is permitted but not required.

In the second instance, a suspension for a non-dangerous situation, any player whose group has begun the play of a hole may, if he chooses, finish that hole before discontinuing play.

It is rare that a weather condition would only affect part of a course, but that was indeed the case at the Open. While the first seven holes and the last four were fog free and players could see where their shots would land, visibility at the area encompassing most of the eighth to 14th holes was, at its worst, 50 yards or less.

A player who had started the 17th when a suspension for a non-threatening situation is called might finish that hole, then might be tempted to proceed to the 18th because the weather condition was not affecting that portion of the course. This is not an option. Rule 6-8b states that players "shall discontinue either before or immediately after completing the hole." The committee does not have the authorization to allow some players to continue while a suspension is in effect. In addition, it could be possible that some players would like to continue while others, perhaps in the same group, wished to stop. That could lead to problems when trying to organize players and get them back into the proper position when play is restarted. - Tom Meeks