ANNIKA Women’s All Pro Tour FCA Women’s Championship

For the fourth year, The Club at Indian Springs hosted the ANNIKA Women’s All Pro Tour FCA Women’s Championship in May. The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, course is home to a 36-hole facility maintained by superintendent David Jones and his crew.

The club, which features the River Course and the Lakes Course, has previously hosted the All Pro Tour championships among other big events.

To prepare for the tournament, the maintenance teams focus on fixing up the bunkers. Detail work is key, edging and cleaning each one. The team also must roll and mow greens each day leading up to the event to get green speeds to the expectations of the tournament director. “We want the whole course to be in tip-top shape for them,” Jones says.

Jones credits his team and the club’s staff for successfully hosting tournaments. The turf team includes assistant superintendents Chuck Collins and Russell Fasig. “It’s a team effort,” Jones says. “There’s no way I could do this by myself, and I have two great assistants that help me out, because we do have 36 holes, two courses, so it’s a lot of work to take on. But if we didn’t have the staff and the crew that we do have, we wouldn’t be able to do it.”

Continuing to be chosen as the host site for the FCA Championship is a testament to the maintenance teams’ dedication.

“It’s been very rewarding to have these people coming from all over the country, all over the world,” Jones says. “These ladies were coming from all over and they’re very complimentary and telling us our course is really great.

“If they come back, that means we’re doing something right because it’s a facility they enjoy coming back to because they know the conditions are going to be good. It makes me and my team feel really great, because we know we’re doing the right thing and have a great product to give to those ladies. These guys have been with me a long time, so they kind of know the process, and they know what’s expected of them. And they go above and beyond every year.”

Jones also credits vendors and club members for their success. Members look forward to hosting — it gives them an opportunity to volunteer — and the event helps kick off the peak golf season.

“It’s kind of the season when everything’s starting to get ramped up,” Jones says, “so it’s nice to have this tournament to set the tone for the rest of the year.”