these Open Championship Clubs choose to relief grind - Pitchcare

Golf
“My biggest fear
was landing a
job at a bigbudget
private
club whose only
goal was to
recreate the
Disneyland
experience”
are constantly probing to investigate soil
moisture levels, probing the sand depth
in the bunkers to make sure there is an
adequate amount of sand in each, and
ensuring that the tee plates and yardage
markers are clean. Attention to detail is
key for these guys. For instance, if there
is some wilt on a green surround, or even
a green itself, the guys will get out their
100 foot hoses and hook up to a quick
coupler connection and address the
wilting area.
When I was preparing to come to the
USA, my biggest fear was landing a job
at a big-budget private club whose only
goal was to recreate the Disneyland
experience. The superintendent, who
spent three years at Augusta National as
an Assistant Superintendent, and an
additional three years as the
Superintendent of the Olympic Club’s
Ocean Course, prefers the traditional
mowing patterns where a 50/50 cut is
performed on tees and fairways and in
the rough as well.
As regards playing conditions, firm
and fast is the key and, in no way, should
aesthetics influence quality turf. It’s great
to see that the more traditional style to
course maintenance still exists where the
“Each Sunday,
we sit down and
discuss our
week ahead and
try to come up
with a schedule,
knowing it will
change fifty
times by Monday
afternoon!”
26 PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012
golfer needs to be able to play all types
of shots.
Scheduling is an essential aspect in
such an intensive environment. Each
Sunday, we sit down and discuss our
week ahead and try to come up with a
schedule as best we can, knowing it will
change fifty times by the Monday
afternoon!
Each day, greens are mown. Our
greens, at the moment (18th January),
are being mown at 0.150 inches (3.8mm).
We mow with a Toro 3250 triplex. The
four guys on section, who take care of the
clean up, cut up to three times a week,
depending on the clipping yield, with a
Toro 1000 pedestrian mower. Our
approaches, tees and grass walkways are
mown with a Toro 3150 triplex. The
fairways are mown with a Toro 5500. The
rough is mown with a Toro 4500 and also
an articulator, which is attached to a
tractor for all the wider areas of rough.
The bunkers are hand raked fully twice
a week, depending on play, and touched
up on the remaining days of the week.
Green surrounds are mown using a Toro
Sidewinder, and must stay well away from
all bunker edges as, around each bunker,
we have anything up to twelve pop up
Magnificent pines and Monterey Cypress
sprinklers.
The course’s design of drastically
sloping bunker edges presents us with
many maintenance challenges. Perhaps
the most significant is the pedestrian
mowing of the green surrounds that the
Toro Sidewinder is unable to mow.
Everything must be neat, tidy, and
presentable. Perception is everything
here in America and, if something is not
done to the standard expected, it will be
noted and presumed something is wrong.
It’s important that we all help each
other as a team to achieve the high
standards that we have set. Another thing
I have learned from the superintendent
is to set your standards and expectations
as high as they can be. As managers, it is
our obligation to motivate the staff to
achieve these high results.
If provided the opportunity, I would
encourage everyone to take part in the
International Exchange Programme of
The Ohio State University. Mike
O’Keeffe has been a great help to me
since I arrived. I am fortunate for Mike’s
responsiveness in answering all of the
questions and concerns that I have had
throughout this journey - both before my
arrival and currently - he owes me a beer
16th green