An Insider's Look: Club Championship Preparations
03 AUG 2020
Well, that’s the 2020 Club Championship preparations in the books. As I write this, the final groups are teeing off for the third and final round.
The Turf Department and I get very excited about tournament preparations. Whether it be for member guest event days, major event qualifiers, men’s and ladies day and of course, our Club Championship! Our main focus is consistency. That means consistency from hole to hole, bunker to bunker, green to green (speed and ball roll) and from day to day. Sometimes mother nature does not really cooperate, as we saw on Saturday.
Rain on Saturday
We strongly believe that a club championship should be played on a course that you are most familiar with. This is why we strive to have you compete on the greens and fairways the way you have played them all year. I believe the Club Championship should be a tough test, but not a test that you have not fairly prepared for.
Setting Pin on 12 Copperhead
Our entire turf crew works all three days during the Championship weekend. Our day starts with alarms going off between 2:30 am and 3:30 am, as start times are 5am. It is very dark at that point! I create pin sheets the day of each round and have to have them presented for the first tee time. We make every effort to cut all tees and fairways, keep roughs at a consistent length from hole to hole and rake all bunkers. The weather on Saturday was very unfortunate (24 mm of rain), as the bunkers did not take it as well as we hoped. The forgiving factor is that we are in a Covid era of bunker play, so it does help that a lift clean and place ruling is in effect.
Monday Morning Pin Sheets In The Dark
Final Round Pin on 1 Copperhead
Intruder Getting Some Pin Information at 4am
I hope you all enjoyed the conditions and the tournament!
Bill McAllister, Golf Course Superintendent