Editor's Note: This exclusive editorial content is made possible through a parternship with the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association. The following dispatch is from Wednesday, June 11.
We dodged a huge bullet today with the weather. Everywhere around us was getting hammered – Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro. But we saw two or three drops, literally. It was an absolute miracle. Even so, we were trashed by the time the weather went through.
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The winds peaked at 34 mph. There was pine straw everywhere, tees, greens, surrounds. We had every backpack blower, tractor blower and Groundsmaster blower out there that we have. And it seemed like it was in no time that we had everything back as if nothing had happened.
Worrying about the weather was a major part of the day. It’s such a fine line getting the green drawn down to the right level so they are going to survive without having to put any water out during play. We will give them a little drink tonight. That’s the nice thing about moisture meters and having the data. You know for sure what they need.
There’s a chance of a storm tonight, but hopefully that won’t happen. Tomorrow’s morning is going to be breezy and it won’t be as hot. They are saying in the high 80s instead of 90s, which is good. There is another chance of storms later in the day. I hope spectators are quicker to take notice if the inclement weather signs go up again. People were pretty slow to respond today until the wind whipped up. That got them moving.
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Everyone is excited for the championship to begin but I have to admit I had to step back for a bit today. Getting up at 3:30 a.m. and being at the golf course til 9 p.m. or later catches up after a while. I’ve been running on coffee in the mornings but today after the morning work was done I had to go home and take a nap. I feel fine, but I did need to recharge my batteries.
I was gone from 10:30 a.m. til 12:30 p.m. I live about two miles from the golf course so most of that time was spent sleeping. I can tell you I didn’t have any trouble nodding off. I was out pretty much the moment my head hit the pillow.
I couldn’t have done that if I didn’t have all the confidence in the world in our assistant superintendents Alan Owen and John Jeffreys. They have very strong guys under them too and I felt confident that we had a very good handle on things across the board. I’m eating well and doing all the right things but sleep deprivation just catches up with you after a week or so.
It’s a little different for the guys on the crew. A lot of them seem to have found favorite spots – couches, corners, hammocks – where they can steal a few minutes of sleep. There’s sleeping bags and cots set up wherever there’s a quiet space.
We’ve put so much work into planning and tweaking things but the practice rounds for the players have really helped us learn some things. We found ourselves a little late shutting down the backpack blowers this morning. So we’ll make an adjustment so they will all be done and shut off at 6:40 a.m. tomorrow with the first tee times at 6:45 a.m. We’ll have a couple of our key guys make a last-minute swing over each nine to make sure everything is as it should be. Then it’s go time and the adrenaline will be good for us all I’m sure.
My pick, Adam Scott.
Trent Bouts assisted in the creation of this article.
Kevin Robinson's Day 3 diary
Kevin Robinson's Day 2 diary
Kevin Robinson's Day 1 diary
