Six Inches of Rain in Two Weeks Preceding Event Leaves Course Conditions Soft, or, Two Squeegee Sessions in One Day Wears Out Crew, or, Highest Average Humidity Since June 2003 Recorded on Rain Soaked Second Day of Tournament, or, Volunteers from Other Clubs Help SCC Grounds Staff Achieve Tournament Ready Conditions for a 7:30 Shotgun Start, or, Rain Soaked Mid-Tournament Ends Dry, or, SCC Volunteers & Family Provide Top Quality Divot Repair, or, Maintaining Tournament Turf Conditions During Extreme Weather Conditions Leaves Turf Stressed, or, Various Diseases Enjoy Post Tournament Petri-dish-Like Weather Conditions, or, Recovery Efforts Underway to Relieved Stressed Turf Areas, or, Long Challenging Rough Gradually Getting Tamed, or, Several Hundred Enjoy Western Finals, or, Players, Parents, Guests Highly Complementary About Course Conditions and Presentation, or, 2010 Western Amateur Tournament a Great Success!
They all could be appropriate titles and they all tell a portion of the story, (as far as the golf course, pre- tournament preparations, and now post tournament care, is concerned) behind the 2010 Western Am. Championship. There was little time for photo documentation during the event but I was able to snap a few shots with camera and phone camera, and was also provide some of the following photos courtesy of the WGA.
Entrance sign (and tee signs, and many others) being installed
Jacob and Ryan assembling scoreboard sections
Carpenter Ed making final touch-ups to Leaderboard
Greens mowing (double cut each morning, single cut each evening)
Fairway Mowing - Performed twice each day
Greens Rolling - Performed twice each day
This was the calm before the storm!
And the rains came...twice each day...no just on Weds. Not a great amount total but two heavy downpours fell on soils unable to rapidly drain from being somewhat saturated from the 5+ inches having fallen in the prior two weeks.
Some of our terrific volunteers from other clubs and suppliers. Josh and Kyle (Interns from Onwentsia Club), Matt (Asst. Supt. from North Shore CC) and Craig (from ProGro Solutions), in this photo above. These four guys worked nearly everyday and we couldn't have done it without them! Others that helped at one or more times include Scott (Supt. Onwentsia Club), Andy (Asst. Supt. Exmoor CC), and several crew members from North Shore CC.
Arthur Clesen Inc., and BTSI provided tasty meals on two days of the tournament...a nice treat!
Jacob (getting waist deep into his work- literally!) and Ryan attempt to clear a drain to help move water off #3 and #13 fairways. Our efforts revealed a collapsed line which will need to be replaced soon.
At one point we had to take a minute to go fishing!
With play resumed...I caught this familiar person wandering around. Something didn't seem quite right about this. I'm used to seeing him swinging clubs, not carrying them!
Something else not quite right... Shoeless Jay?
One of many member volunteers whom helped replace/fill divots on tees and in fairways.
Thanks so much to all of you!!!
A few spectators during semi-final match
Many spectators enjoy play at #15 Green during final match. Apologies for the lack of sharpness...Lots of coffee and little sleep for photographer this week!
In the wake of the tournament we're left with a bit more work to keep us busy...
These players do take divots! We've re-seeded already.
Rough mowing began before the final match ended. Most of the really long rough has now been mown and we will gradually (so as to not damage the turf and not leave excessive clippings) bring the heights back to a manageable length. Currently two large area rough mowers are in use every day.
Tournament turf conditioning -repeated mowing, rolling, limited fertility, low irrigation inputs - creates significant turf stress and these stresses are compounded when conducted during high heat, high humidity, and high moisture conditions (exactly what we had during the tournament). Solid tine aeration (ventilation), shown above, was conducted on Monday following the tournament, to relieve some of the compacted conditions and help re-introduce needed oxygen to the root systems.
Some areas were in fact damaged, and here Otto is replacing an area on No. 13 green with sod from our turf nursery, which has been grown from cores from all the greens and will blend quite nicely in a short period of time. You can see the small holes in the foreground from the "ventilation" process. Areas on a couple other greens that experienced thinning have been seeded and topdressed with a sand/peat mixture. We will repeat this seeding work as often as is necessary until full turf coverage occurs.
The 108th Western Amateur is, as they say, "In the Books". A hearty congratulations to victor, David Chung, and a heartfelt, "Thank You", to all those, staff, members, volunteers, and family, who contributed to this wonderful tournament.
You really did a great job with the course. Much appreciated. I did hear two sets of parents say they were watching the blog leading up to the tournament and were prepared for the rough "Rough".
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