Seldom does any event have the opportunity to repeat annually at the same venue as we see at TPC Sawgrass The Players is always played at one of the most challenging venues on The PGA Tour. Ponte Vedra Beach is the home of the PGA Tour and also the headquarters for the TPC Properties that are situated around the world. So when any event is held in the backyard of the Tour it sets lofty goals for excellence.
TPC Sawgrass actually has two golf courses. The course you will not hear much about during The Players week is the Dye’s Valley Course. Right now that course is undergoing some construction projects and that allows the Dye’s Valley team to assist the Stadium Course team for the weeks leading up to the tournament and during the tournament. Total staffing for the home team at TPC Sawgrass this week is approximately 55 employees. With everything that needs to be done 55 would not even get half the work done, so as many as 80 volunteers arrive each day to support the existing staff and think of them as the away team. These volunteers go through an application process and are chosen from a plethora of applicants to take a great golf course to the next level for tournament competition. Nine of the volunteers come from outside the USA and I have enjoyed spending time with superintendents from Malaysia, Peru, Scotland, Switzerland, Germany, Chile and the UK. The selection process has some superb logic in that the foreign superintendents all seem to have one thing in common as they will host tournaments in the next year that are part of the PGA Tour, Latin America PGA Tour and LPGA. What better way to understand what it takes to host a tournament than seeing how it is done at the highest level.
In case you wondered how the program for the away team works it is a complex plan that is executed to perfection. The title of the program is John Deere Golf Volunteer Program at TPC Sawgrass. Months before the event people apply through the John Deer website. At the same time that applications are being processed the logistics of transporting, feeding, housing and providing meals is taking place. TPC Sawgrass has established a wonderful relationship with University of North Florida so that volunteers are housed in dormitories the week of the event. Uniforms are coordinated for each day so everyone on the teams has matching shirts and caps. Jerry Stalvey’s BBQ cooks all the meals and I can assure you nobody goes hungry.
General plans are developed for typical golf course maintenance during the week of the event. But when I say typical we all know things can change with weather so those daily plans are tweaked each day and night to match up with the cards that are dealt to the TPC Sawgrass management team. There are daily and weekly goals for firmness and green speeds. As it should be the agronomy team is not told how to accomplish the firmness and speed goals as those decisions are up to their discretion.
Speaking of weather it can surely impact the condition of the golf course. In north Florida there can be huge fluctuations in temperatures as well as precipitation at this time of the year. Upon arriving at TPC Sawgrass on May 2nd I quickly found out that a very cool period mixed with rain was the norm in the weeks preceding the ramp up for The Players. Anyone that has ever grown bermudagrass greens knows that it takes heat and sunlight to make them grow at their best. In the world of growing grass for a living it is seldom one single causal factor that leads to perfect conditions or conditions that are less than desirable.
So for all the people that have given their opinions as to why a couple of greens have experienced some minor decline let’s look at a list of potential causal factors and then the picture will become much clearer.
- Cooler than normal weather
- Overcast due to rain so limited sunlight to enhance photosynthesis
- Excessive shade in some areas
- High traffic leading up to the event
- Some of the greens being small; 2900 sq. ft. is the smallest
- Walk on areas that are highly trafficked
- Lower height of cut for desired tournament conditions during winter
- Expectations for tournament conditions on the playing surfaces year-round
Applications of fungicides and plant health products were standard for the area, type of grass and the current weather conditions.
Occasionally there is a term that is used known as a “perfect storm”. A perfect storm is a situation when a variety of conditions line up that create a specific phenomenon. Such is the case for the few weak spots on a couple of greens. The perfect storm created by a variety of causal factors and something that would be difficult to duplicate due to the rare occurrence of all these things happening at the same time.
In a press conference this week, PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem made it clear that he had total confidence in the 12 agronomists on his staff that are the best in the world at what they do. He also commented that the Tour might have to take a look at a couple of things that might be helpful future events. He indicated that there would be discussions regarding the date of the event, the type of grass on the greens and even possibly enlarging a few greens to handle more traffic. Like any good corporate leader Tim Finchem will work with his team to look at all viable options for optimum conditions during The Players which many consider to be the 5th Major!
All this week there was a variety of information and misinformation that was spewed in the media, on Twitter, industry magazines and of course on The Golf Channel. The best comment I can make is that rumors have no place in our industry whether it is turf or golf. Armchair quarterbacks that try to second guess a talented team at TPC Sawgrass is a travesty. I only hope that my peers step up and only keep a positive train of thought and wish the TPC Sawgrass Turf Team well as they will be in the spotlight this week. Walk a mile in a man’s shoes before any of us second guess or criticize someone else or the quality of their golf course. I can assure you that the players will be very happy, play extremely well and the few areas that were a bit week will be fine to putt on.
So today is the final day before the field starts keeping score. Some might look at the practice days prior to the event as a “soft opening”. Watching the volunteers and permanent staff mesh together has been a thing of beauty. Not enough words to describe what has been created here. A few that come to mind are:
- Enthusiasm
- High energy
- Synchronization
- Well planned
- Superbly executed
- Teamwork
- Learning
- Sharing
- Fun!
Few events are repeated at the same venue. With that luxury I can tell you that TPC Sawgrass is operating like a well-oiled machine. Hats off to Tom Vlach, Director of Agronomy and Clay Breazeale, Stadium Course Golf Course Superintendent for making us proud of our chosen profession. Tune in this week for The Players Championship on “Golf’s Greatest Stadium”.”!
