The 13th hole at Ohio State’s Scarlett golf course. The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship ended Sunday. Credit: Cassandra D’Angelo | Lantern Photographer
After 3,761 holes and four days of golf, with only one hole remaining at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, the skies darkened. Fat raindrops splattered like tossed dimes, and thunder rolled in behind them.
A weather horn shrieked, and in an instant the tournament’s calm cracked.
Fans without umbrellas sprinted for cover, skirting puddles and weaving through the fairway as the storm muscled in.
Three green gators zipped past, ferrying the golfers and their caddies to the Jane and Walt Dennis Performance Center clubhouse. What had been a leisurely Sunday stroll turned urgent as everyone rushed for shelter.
Inside, the pressure of a career-defining finish — with tens of thousands of dollars in prize money and crucial Korn Ferry points that could mean a jump to the PGA Tour — softened into something more casual.
Eventual champion John VanDerLaan and fellow golfer Trent Phillips settled at a round table in front of the bar. Chandler Blanchet, who was part of their final threesome, stood behind them.
Instead of dissecting pin placements or fairway angles, they began chatting about fantasy football while the Browns-Packers game played on a wall-mounted TV.
“My fantasy league is bullshit this year,” Blanchet exclaimed, looking at his phone in disbelief.
Around them, tournament staff shifted into overdrive. Volunteers wheeled carts stacked with ice, soda and beer, stocking coolers for the post-round celebration that would eventually crown VanDerLaan the winner. The clatter of bottles and the clinking of ice echoed through the room, mixing with the sharp hiss of rain on the roof.
The golfers sipped water, swapped fantasy-football updates and kept their eyes on the football game, content to let the storm and staff swirl around them.
For about 25 minutes, the final group waited. Finally, they got word: It was time to finish the tournament.
What might have been a stressful pause before a decisive hole instead felt like a breather on a lazy Sunday.
For VanDerLaan, the unexpected delay became a welcome break.
“This one was actually kind of nice,” he said with a grin. “We were watching football for a few minutes and then headed back out.”
