Storms halt practice at Crooked Stick - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Storms halted practice at the BMW Championship at the Crooked Stick Golf Course Wednesday.

Thousands of golf fans were told to head to their cars well before a line of storms moved into the area. By 12:30 pm, it was raining. The storms also brought thunder and lightning, as well as strong winds. By 1:00 pm, fans were waiting to get back inside. There is the chance of severe storms all afternoon.

The storms gave organizers the chance to test their severe weather plan.

It's the first time in nearly 21 years that some of the biggest names in golf have visited central Indiana for the tournament. Fans were eager to get a glimpse of the best of the PGA.

"We may catch Tiger up here," said fan Steve Elsea. "Don't know; maybe we'll sit on 17 for a while and see."

Before he had the chance, the weather had pulled out a different play. By mid-morning, officials with the BMW Championship decided when it comes to safety, they weren't willing to take any chances. Spectators were told to clear the course.

"They were real good at getting the police around telling people how long before the storm hit and head for your cars because they said tents probably weren't ready for the winds. They got everybody out to their cars pretty quick and they got the golfers off the course," said Lance Keesling, spectator. "Really well-prepared."

There were an estimated 10,000 spectators at Crooked Stick Wednesday and not enough indoor locations for everyone to safely take cover, so they were encouraged to return to their vehicles. There are over 30 tents on the golf course constructed for the BMW Championship, and although they're built to withstand wind gusts of up to 70 mph, there aren't enough of them to provide shelter for all of the crowds.

"We try to give as much warning as we can and hopefully give enough time for everybody to get back to the buses and stay safe," said Stewart Williams, PGA meteorologist.

Williams travels with the PGA. "We have live radar, lightning detection. We also have an electric field mill on site that measures the electrical charge in the atmosphere. So using all those things together we can give them a good idea when we think it's gonna be dangerous on the golf course."

Courses are cleared due to weather at least once a week.

"If it's light enough rain and we can play through that, then we'll keep playing. But if there's any lightning at all, then we're gonna stop for sure," said Williams.

In August 1991, a spectator was killed at Crooked Stick when he was struck by lightning as he was trying to get back to his car. No one wants to see that repeated - even fans who want to see their heroes play.

"Still just so great to see what we did see today and have these great golfers in our fine town again," said Vince Pellegrino. "It was just exciting to get goose bumps when you see the big names tee off."

See tee times here.