Lawrence resident Conrad Roberts tees off during the LAGA Big Event tournament at Alvamar Golf Course. Roberts, who has won the tournament the past two years, holds a two-stroke lead heading into today's final round at Eagle Bend.

The only red seen Saturday in the Lawrence Amateur Golf Association Big Event at Alvamar Golf Course was on the frustrated faces of city golfers.

That is, once they wiped away the rain from their faces.

“It was horrible. I haven’t played in conditions like this in a long time,” Conrad Roberts said. “The rain’s one thing, but in July you expect it to be warm. It was nice and warm when we teed off, but humid so you knew the storm was coming. It got wet, the winds picked up a bit and temperatures dropped 20 degrees or something. When you’re cold and wet, it’s hard to keep focus and enjoy the game the way it’s meant to be.”

In what seemed like a Kansas autumn day – rainy and chilly – in the middle of July, none of the competitors came close to breaking par.

Roberts, the defending city champ, shot a 7-over 79 to lead the Open Division heading into today’s final round at Eagle Bend Golf Course.

“The course played incredibly long and the black tees were tipped out,” Roberts said. “We had a difficult wind, and the short holes were right into the wind. The whole course just played really difficult. … Everything changes when you have a wet jacket on.”

While Roberts had to endure the rainy weather with his early tee time, a 30-minute rain delay pushed back some of the later tee times.

The later starts actually made the final nine holes a little more bearable for the final groups, which didn’t have to deal with much rain coming into the clubhouse.

For Alan Garcia, who was in the final foursome to tee off, playing in the rain on the front nine was no different than playing the back nine.

“One of the nice things: I’m left-handed. So a lot of the lies that I was at hadn’t been stepped in or anything,” Garcia said. “One of the guys I played with, he had to have relief three times. I don’t think I even asked for relief at all. But I guess when you play in the rough you don’t really need relief.”

It’s going to be rough for Roberts to get any relief from the rest of the Open Division in his quest for a third straight city title.

After winning last year’s Big Event tournament by seven strokes, the former Kansas University golfer has just a two-stroke advantage over Mason Dick, while Chris Hutchens, Steve Randall and John Catlin are within reach after carding 83.

Roberts, Hutchens and Dick will tee off together at 9:30 a.m. today, with Randall, Catlin and Camren Flanders teeing off just before them at 9:22.

The Senior Championship Division is just as tight as the Open Division.

Scott Buxton, who carded the best score of the day with a 75, leads Mike Grosdidier and Stewart Platz by just one stroke going into the final 18 holes.

The three Seniors golfers will be joined by Dennis Gisel in the 7:24 a.m. foursome today.

Carol Rau is the women’s leader going into today after shooting a 79 at Alvamar. She will be in the first foursome – with Sidney Garrett, Michele Johnson and Paula Schnitker – to tee off at 7 a.m. today.

Log onto LJWorld.com Sunday afternoon to see who wins the tournament.

The following are tee-times for the final round of the LAGA Big Event on Sunday at Eagle Bend:

7:00 a.m. – Carol Rau, Sidney Garrett, Michele Johnson, Paula Schnitker (Red Tees)

7:08 – Jimmy Hill, Matt Dengler, Rich Davis, Jim Hagan (Blue Tees)

7:16 – Jack Schreiner, Galen Smith, Jamie Stansell, John Emerson (Blue Tees)

7:24 – Dennis Gisel, Stewart Platz, Mike Grosdidier, Scott Buxton (Blue Tees)

7:32 – Dave Severn, Connor Klutman, Neal Ezell, Troy Gregory (Blue Tees)

7:40 – B.J. Bailey, Stephen Morgan, Ryan Karasek, Chuck Junge (Blue Tees)

7:48 – Cameron Hershiser, Jake Carpenter, Spencer Scott, Eric Herman (Gold Tees)

7:56 – Tim Shepard, Mel Raynes, Randy Gebhards, Brian Edwards (White Tees)

8:04 – David Greenamyer, Lynn Habluetzel, Tim Schnitker, Curtis Anderson (White Tees)

8:12 – John Sell, Ted Brecheiser, Frank DeHart, Tim Van Leer (White Tees)

8:20 – David Lerner, Walt Kihm, Bill Smith, Tom Taylor (White Tees)

8:28 – Daniel O’Connell, Greg Windholz, Dean Freeman (Blue Tees)

8:36 – Matt Grammer (Blue Tees), Ben Neuenswander, Carl Jensen (Green Tees)

8:44 – Jeff Brooks, Mike Beaton, Kevin Morgison (Blue Tees)

8:50 – Drew Elser, Brandon Urban, William Stallworth, Gary Dick (Blue Tees)

8:58 – Ray Buckingham, Bob Leland, Tom Keegan (White Tees)

9:06 – Michael Farve, Matt Hall, Maurice Monteau, Scott Swedland (White Tees)

9:14 – Ron Covert, Jeffery Scott, Tyler Kahn (White Tees)

9:22 – Camren Flanders, John Catlin, Steve Randall (Gold Tees)

9:30 – Mason Dick, Chris Hutchens, Conrad Roberts (Gold Tees)

9:38 – Darlene Kinion, Dae Curtiss, Lou Ann Gebhards, Joan Wells (Red Tees)

9:42 – Michael Faria, Phillip Renick, Zak Kolich, Alan Garcia (White Tees)

9:50 – Mike Miller, David Hudson, Darrel Smith (White Tees)

9:58 – David Anderson, Bob Kocour, Jim O’Connel (White Tees)

10:06 – Robert Banks, Ron Hurst, Deacon Thomas (White Tees)

10:14 – Eddie Scholtes, Norm Slade, Jim Lynch (White Tees)

10:22 – George Stan, Burgess Tapedo, Robb Ferguson (White Tees)