In the morning, caddies carried umbrellas. Drives would plop to a stop in the fairways, and puddles grew on the greens, forcing the Winged Foot Golf Club greenskeeping staff to scramble for squeegees.

Then the afternoon arrived at the first round of stroke play at the 104th U.S. Amateur, and out came the sunglasses. Spirits rose, scores fell, and the still-soaked men who drew morning tee times stewed over their poor luck.

“It looks like it’s going to clear,” said Andy Svoboda, who shot a morning 74, moments after finishing. “And that’s a really big break for those guys.”

BYU junior Oscar Alvarez, a native of Colombia, took best advantage of the weather change by firing a 3-under 67 on the East Course, one of two used for yesterday’s and today’s stroke-play section of the championship. After today, the field is cut to 64 for match play, which begins tomorrow.

Alvarez, who also played in June’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, yesterday hit 17 fairways, 16 greens, never three-putted, and recorded the only under-par score among the competitors who finished. Thirty-six golfers remained on the course when play was suspended at 7:10 p.m.

“On the first tee I didn’t see how it would clear up,” said Alvarez, who started his 18 holes with rain falling. “I couldn’t believe how different it played when the rain stopped.”

The wet part of the day belonged to Svoboda, a Winged Foot member and reigning four-time club champion. Cheered by all the locals, including fellow members volunteering as hole marshals, he managed a solid round on the West Course, the longer of Winged Foot’s tests.

“There’s a lot of pressure with the fact that it’s here,” said Svoboda, who once shot 65 on the West. “So I’ll take a 74 on this course in these conditions.”

Early scores soared on both layouts thanks to that soggy setting. No golfer challenged par in the morning, and four golfers shared the lunchtime lead with scores of 72.