Gathered around TV images of sparse traffic Monday morning on Washington Road, officials silently wondered whether the economic downturn was having an effect on the world's most prestigious golf tournament.

Chase Bublitz, of Kentucky, sits on Washington Road in front of the main gate to Augusta National. Traffic watchers blamed rain for a late rush to the course, among other issues Monday. (Special)

Then the patron gates opened. By 8:30 a.m., it was clear that golf fans weren't deterred.

A line of cars stretched from Stanley Drive at Washington Road to Davis Road at Interstate 20 -- about three miles west.

From their base of operations in the Westside High School auditorium, traffic officials from Richmond County and the Georgia Department of Transportation said they were surprised by the late rush to the course.

In years past, most of the heavy traffic began by about 6:45 a.m., according to Traffic Engineer Steve Cassell.

"I think people adjusted their arrival times to fit the weather, and after that it was a bum rush to get there," said Mr. Cassell, alluding to an early-morning rainstorm that brought cooler temperatures behind it.

The rain also might have slowed attendants as they funneled patrons into the new parking lots near Berckmans Road,

Richmond County sheriff's Maj. Richard Weaver said. Monday was the first real test of the new traffic patterns, which bucked many patrons' tried-and-true method of simply driving toward the water tower on Washington Road.

Shortly before noon, traffic on most of the major routes into the course -- Washington Road, Berckmans Road, and a downtown route fed by River Watch Parkway and Martintown Road -- had fallen from their early-morning highs, and officials were assessing the problems with their new plan.

"We had some kinks we have to work out before tomorrow," Mr. Cassell said Monday afternoon.

Most notably, the sheriff's office closed the I-20 ramp to Washington Road because of backed-up traffic, only to have it reopened minutes later by traffic officials.

There was also some confusion as drivers pulled into the new Publix shopping center entrance to the parking lots, which Mr. Cassell said could be fixed by more signs.

By far the longest wait was on Berckmans Road, where traffic stretched back to Walton Way and along it to Walton Way Extension. The wait time peaked at 71 minutes there at 10 a.m. The line coming down I-20 to Washington Road had a travel time of 53 minutes at about the same time.

Reach Adam Folk at (706) 823-3339 or adam.folk@augustachronicle.com.