Former Horsham Golf Club apprentice greenkeeper Nathan Turner had the opportunity of a lifetime last week when he was part of the volunteer crew at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York which hosted the 2013 US PGA Championship. Currently undertaking an Ohio internship at Kirtland Country Club in Cleveland, Ohio, Turner was part of an overall tournament crew of 145, including 80 volunteers, that course superintendent Jeff Corcoran had brought together for the event. The US PGA was an awesome experience and I loved every minute. We pulled some long hours, starting at 3:30am and working through until 8:30am before coming back in the afternoon and working from 4pm-10pm. For tournament week we had 14 greens mowers go out morning and night (they had to walk out to their greens). Greens were double cut (up and back on the same line) with the greens greased up so the guys could see their lines almost every night. On Thursday, after we got all the rain, the greens were triple cut every morning and night just to try and get as much grass as we could (one night we cut with brushes). There was so much stress on the greens that some areas were struggling, but by Saturday and Sunday the greens were above 14 feet which is where Jeff wanted them. The greens were double rolled morning and night during the tournament and the approaches were also rolled. Greens were sprayed four times during the week with wetting agents, growth regulators and a product called TurfScreen. Ten fairway mowers went out morning and night and did a 50/50 cut to make it quick and easy. The fairways were cut with catchers and there were guys whose sole job it was to take the catchers off and empty them to save time. Two groups of 10 went out to do the front and back nine bunkers, with all traps double raked up and down the same line morning and night. We also had people fluffing the roughs with leaf rakes. This was done last once all the maintenance traffic had finished. Following the completion of his time at Kirtland Country Club, Turner is set to head to Naples, Florida where he will continue his Ohio internship at the Tom Fazio-designed 36-hole Mediterra Golf Club.
Author: Australian Golf Course Superintendents' Assoc.