NATCHEZ — Saturday didn’t exactly go as planned for 78 golfers at the Bill McKenney Memorial City Golf Championship at Duncan Park as the rain had the final say of the day.

Only 30 of 78 golfers finished their 18 holes as dark clouds filled the sky all day and showers drenched the course to inclement conditions.

“We got 14 inches of rain in the past 36 hours,” Duncan Park golf course director Greg Brooking said.

Of the 30 that finished, Michael Carroll was ahead with a score of 67, and George Cupit wasn’t far behind with a score of 73.

The remaining golfers must pick up where they left off with a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m. today, and the second round of the tournament will start promptly at 10 a.m.

Brooking urged all golfers to be at the course and prepared to tee off for the second round by 10 a.m., or possibly be disqualified.

“Everyone has to be prepared (by 10 a.m.), but that doesn’t mean we will start at 10 because we won’t start until all players finish their first 18 holes,” Brooking said.

Anastasia Carter, the tournament’s only female competitor, thought her biggest challenge would be the bermudagrass laid across Duncan Park, but the weather forecast proved to be a bigger challenge.

“I’ve played in the rain before, but this is different,” Carter said. “Usually you play against the wind, or you play the weather, but its more like playing water.

“The green is different because the ball will stop where it is because it lands in a big puddle.”

Carter completed 13 holes before the tournament was postponed going two over par.

In retrospect, she said, getting time to regroup before finishing her first round might be a good thing.

“I’m hoping to finish in the top 10 tomorrow,” she said.

According ot the Wather Channel, golfers should expect a 50 percent chance of rain with scattered thunderstorms.