On Thursday I toured the course with John Miller, the LPGA agronomist. We looked at all areas of the course and then we spent some time afterwards discussing the preparations with my assistants, Eric and Dave. John was pleased with everything he saw and basically stated that we are in a very good position one month out from the event. He gave us some guidelines for green speed, mowing heights for fairways, rough and collars. He really liked the bunkers and the sand quality and would only like to see less of lip on the backside of most bunkers which we plan on adjusting in the near future. We have completed a check list for the event with John so now we will enter a phase of final preparations and then a run through of our procedures leading up to advance week so that we are ready for tournament week.
Any changes we make will be minor. No additional widening or narrowing of fairways. No change in the type of collar cut we employ here and no changes to the step cut of rough. The secondary (main) rough will be cut and topped off at 3 inches. As to when that occurs depends on the weather. These days we could get to 3 inches by missing 1 or 2 mowing cycles. Translation: about 36 hours.
The one requirement from the LPGA is that we do not play from the tees that will be used for the tournament. I asked him about the time frame we decided upon (around 30 days) and he said that was correct and common at many professional events. In the interim we will try to average out the yardage from the blue tees by using both gold and white tee complexes. It will rarely be perfect and it won't satisfy everyone but it's the best we can do for the month of August. The par 3 tee complexes not being used will require the most attention and cooperation on your part so PLEASE stay off those and the other tees that are not in play. The Member Guest and Club Championship weekend are the only exceptions. I will set tees on some of the out of play complexes but they will not be near the supplied yardages I have been given by the LPGA.
One last reminder. Beginning next week the Golf Canada infrastructure will begin arriving on the property with a major push starting around the 31st involving setup on the course. It promises to be very busy with contractors buzzing around everywhere so be prepared for some additional equipment and noise throughout the coming days leading up to the tournament.
I am now asking for those members that have inquired about volunteering for divot work on the fairways to contact me through my email or cell anytime. Several of you have approached me in the past but now it is time to get organized and discuss numbers and scheduling. Your help will be a much appreciated addition to our Turf Care team.
Wade Peckham
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