Travelers Championship uses five-level weather warning system for course of play

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — A bad day of weather can ruin any number of outdoor plans, including a day at the golf course.

With the Travelers Championship PGA event coming to New England last summer, weather always factored in to the play.

The tournament utilized a five-level weather warning system that delivered messages through text, social media and loudspeakers.

“We try really hard to make sure, if there is an issue, one, people have plenty of time to react to it,” said tournament director Nathan Grube.

“You know you’ve gotta get 40,000 people from one location to either their cars or transportation or things like that, how do you do that in a timely fashion? How do you train your volunteers? How do you line up with the tour and the competition standard, right?”

Lighting-related deaths number 17 in Connecticut since 1959 according to the National Weather Service and the National Lightning Safety Council.

This makes it one of the safer states weather-wise.

“If there’s bad weather in the afternoon, you can go threesomes off two T’s in the morning,” said Grube.

“Unlike a game that starts, you know, kickoff is at 7:07, and it’s only in this window, you can move your fans and players around a golf course.”

The system used by Travelers shows that weather preparation can go a long way.