Once I returned from a business trip to the Okanagan I quickly did a landscape job here on the island before working at Bear Mountain for 3 weeks to help prepare for the Skins Game.
After 20 years of golf course construction and maintenance I was suprised by how much I learned in 3 weeks preparing for a such a large event. For the most part I was simply a part of the maintenance team but I made sure to learn as much as possible along the way.
I think that what I gathered the most was from Superintendent Darren Burns about water conservation and how to irrigate for an event like a Skins Game. In the weeks leading up to the event Burns watered very little in order to make the track fast and firm for the PGA players.
Any Superintendent could certainly learn a lot about water conservation and the ability to produce world class conditions using very little water from Darren Burns.
Anyone who was able to attend the event or watch it on TV must have been extremely impressed as the course was in fantastic condition. In 25 years of playing golf and working at some of the best courses in Canada I can comfortably say that I have never seen a golf course in better condition than Bear Mountain was on June 21 and 22.
To read more about my experience at Bear Mountain see my article in Inside Golf at www.insidegolf.ca/content/view/110791/338/ The article is entitled Bear Mountain Maintenance Staff Ready to Host the World.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment