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Heat at Wyndham Championship Sends Fans Sprawling to the Shade

There's not much that stops the sweat in today's humidity.

It’s hot, like, outrageously hot.

If you live in the south, you know what 90 degrees and humidity can do to a stale August afternoon. Spend longer than a few minutes in the sun and risk the sweat that comes with baking in the sun.

Onlookers at the Wyndham Championship willingly subject themselves to these conditions for hours, just to get an up close glimpse of their favorite golfer. But around 11:30 a.m., crowds start heading for the sweet relief of shade, willing to pony up whatever’s necessary for a cold drink and a rotating fan.

Jim Lindquist, holding a supersized, double-tiered umbrella is sweating bullets.

“Half the time, it’s so hot that this thing doesn’t even help,” he said.

Fortunately for fans, the organizers at this year’s event have taken extra steps to keep people comfortable. At one side of the Sedgefield Country Club, all you need to do is push a button. 

“You deserve a sea breeze” the sign on the misting station reads. By 2:00 p.m. it’s run out of steam from overuse, and event staff rushes to reload the station.

The relief comes in other forms. Around the corner near the tournament entrance, it sounds a lot like Jimmy Buffet.

Live music is playing inside today’s enormous “Margaritaville.” There’s hardly enough room to stand underneath the shade at high noon.

Further down, the grand stands on the 9th green are receiving similar treatment. Multiple fans blare loudly at patrons frantically flapping event brochures at themselves, but not too loudly. Jordan Spieth, one of the best and most popular golfers in the world is putting, and the crowd falls silent. Even the long line at the makeshift counter stops doling out water bottles to watch.

“I can’t see, there’s sweat in my eye,” one of the younger fans in the back row said.

On days like today, even in the shade, it's tough to outrun the sun.

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