Two Sundays ago I finally had the chance to go to my first Players Championship, held annually at TPC at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Florida. One of my friends was lucky enough to secure some tickets from her work, so a group of us headed out on Championship Sunday, the last day of the tournament, to enjoy some sunshine, sip on refreshing lemonade and watch some top-class golfers compete.

I was amazed at just how many people attend this event. The week-long competition culminates on Sunday, and we had hoped the weather would cooperate. Unfortunately, a forecast of clouds and eventual thunderstorms was slated for the afternoon.

We enjoyed an hour or two of decent weather, following players like Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun through the ninth, 10th and 11th holes. By the 12th hole, we got a good spot by the finish, but a flash of lightning halted the game entirely. These types of events have yet to adapt to Florida weather, particularly for spectators. If you’re not a ticketholder for the limited and covered stands (which cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars), you’re left out in the open in rain and lightning. All of the food and beverage venues shut down, and there was absolutely no coverage (as everyone knows not to seek shelter beneath a tree in a storm …). So we had to run back to our car, absolutely soaked and waiting for an update.

Sadly, the event continued to be pushed back and the storm raged on. Cars were piled up for at least an hour trying to exit, so we sat in the car, stuck and unable to even back out because of how poorly managed the traffic and logistics were for this event. It was actually surprising how such a popular event was unable to handle something like this, and I’m sure the event coordinators received many complaints that day.

There was an upside to the delay, however. One of our friends works for the PGA, and he texted us inviting us to the headquarters to tour the space. Because he also could not work due to the storm delay, he was free. So we walked past all of the traffic and found ourselves within the modern and sleek PGA headquarters.

I didn’t realize just how many media rooms lined with monitors, screens, buttons and lights were within this building. Each room was designated for something different, from replays to featured holes to even a profanity room (my favorite). This room had about five men whose job was to quickly catch any verbal profanity or obscene gestures before it went live on the network. Essentially, they had no more than five seconds to bleep or blur out something from the event, and they joked with us about the golfers they know are notorious for swearing.

We entered one of the interview rooms where golfers are questioned, and in one sat Tiger Woods!

Although the day didn’t pan out as we expected, it turned out to be an interesting and entertaining experience.

As for the actual competition, the event resumed about four hours later. We had gone home by that time, the traffic clearing out by that point. The competition ended that evening with a draw between McIlroy and Spaun. The next day, while I had work, two of my friends took off to head back to the competition, as our tickets were technically eligible for the next day because of the weather delay. They got to watch the golfers duke it out to determine the winner, with McIlroy emerging victorious.

— Aoife O’Riordan, associate editor