Saturday’s unofficial Border Showdown became an official Border Rainout.

“We’ll just regroup, go back to our camps and come back tomorrow,” said John Kelly, one of the four protagonists in the KGA Four-Ball championship match.

Kelly and Chris Mabry, his Missouri University teammate, were primed to tee off against Kansas University’s Tyler Docking and Gary Woodland at 7:30 a.m. Saturday when the clouds opened over Alvamar Golf Course.

At that point, KGA executive director Kim Richey ordered an hour delay, but it still was raining an hour later and an hour after that.

More rain was forecast for the afternoon, so Richey postponed the 36-hole championship match 24 hours. The two remaining twosomes from the original field of 86 now are scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. today.

“We’ll hope to get in 36 holes,” Richey said. “If not, we’ll try to go 18.”

That will depend on the weather, of course. More rain was predicted overnight and again this morning. If they can’t play today, rescheduling is a possibility, and not necessarily at Alvamar.

“Because it’s match play, we can literally schedule it anytime at any golf course,” Richey said, “but that could be a problem with Kelly being from St. Louis.”

The other three are from the surrounding area – Mabry from Leawood, Docking from Olathe and Woodland from Berryton.

A worse-case scenario would be to declare co-champions, but, Richey said, “That’s my last resort.”

Woodland, who teamed with former KU teammate Kevin Ward (now a pro) to win last year’s KGA Four-Ball event, and Docking are the No. 1 seed and clearly the team to beat, but Mabry and Kelly caught fire in Friday’s quarterfinals and semifinals to reach the championship round.

Mabry and Kelly had been seeded ninth after 36 holes of stroke qualifying Tuesday and Wednesday, and Mabry, a Roeland Park Miege product who will be an MU senior next year, worried that he and Kelly might lose momentum because of the delay.

“I don’t like it,” Mabry said. “It’s kind of depressing. We were ready, and the rain just took it all away.”

Docking and Woodland were more upbeat. The two Kansas juniors took the rainout in stride.

“There’s nothing you can do,” Woodland said. “This is golf. I just hope we can get all 36 holes in because I want the true winner to win.”

Mabry echoed the sentiment.

“I want a 36-hole match,” he said. “It’s a little more exciting that way because anything can happen.”

Kelly, however, would settle for 18 holes : “as long as we know the guidelines, as long as we know it will be 18 before we start.”

Docking desires anything but Richey being forced to award co-titlist trophies.

“We don’t want to share the championship,” Docking said, “and they don’t, either.”

One thing is certain. The two duos will have to arise before daybreak again today.

“That’s the bad thing,” Docking said with a smile. “Nobody wants to wake up at 5:30 two days in a row.”