At 5:10 a.m. Thursday, the streets and parking lots surrounding Oakland Hills Country Club were eerily silent. But just inside the gates of the club, where the Ryder Cup will start Friday, a rhythm was building. It was heard at first on the 18th hole in front of the clubhouse _ the familiar sound of a mower being driven across a green, its headlights illuminating a path in the darkness.
Not far away, on No. 16, a man with a rake was grooming a bunker. He performed his job before sunrise because, well, it is a job and a bunker he knows by heart.
When the Ryder Cup matches between the United States and Europe get under way at 8:10 Friday morning, spectators and TV viewers will see a golf course that looks as perfect as a wedding cake.
But only Oakland Hills course manager Steve Cook and his staff know the hours of labor and tender loving care that went into it.
Cook joined Oakland Hills in 1997, and he has been preparing for this weekend ever since. He oversees two superintendents and a grounds crew that has swelled to more than 75 for the competition.
Designed by Donald Ross, the course has existed for nearly a century. And without a doubt, its tradition of holding major events has been part of its allure.
"The excitement right now is so intense, and there's all this adrenaline that has been building up for a long time," Cook said. "I don't think our guys are oblivious to it, but it's more like a quiet confidence. They know what they have to do. Everybody on the staff is proud of what they've done."
The Free Press spent a few hours with Cook's team Thursday, watching its morning work before the Ryder Cup's final practice round, observing the meticulousness of each chore, from double-cutting each green, fairway and tee box to fluffing up the six-inch rough by hand with rakes.
At 5:45 a.m., Cook drove his golf cart to the No. 1 green, grabbed a golf ball and his Ping putter and tested the speed of the greens _ "just to see how it feels," he said.
"A golf course is a living, breathing organism _ it changes every day," Cook said. "This is an old golf course. It's like owning an old car that's in really, really good shape but doesn't always behave. But because of its quality, you just have to learn it."
Cook's grounds crew, including South course superintendent Jeff Frentz and North course superintendent Ben Messerly, arrived at Oakland Hills before 5 a.m., their usual starting time. The Ryder Cup matches will be played on the South course.
But Frentz got a head start on the rest. He spent the night on a brown couch in the grounds building _ recently anointed the Turf Care Center _ because he was concerned about a possible overnight storm.
He set his alarm for 3 a.m. and checked the weather on the radar.
"It looked good; the rain was breaking up," he said.
So Frentz slept for another hour _ in his raincoat.
At 4:30, his assistants arrived to set up the mowers. Then shortly after 5 a.m., after the grounds crew was fed a light breakfast of English muffins and hard-boiled eggs, Cook sent the workers out for their morning duties. At 6:36 a.m., the first shafts of sunlight broke through heavy gray clouds that brought a little light rain, but nothing measurable.
A few minutes later, at 6:40, Cook, who had surveyed the entire layout, radioed in.
"The golf course is right where we want it to be," he said. "It's awesome."
"Roger that!" Frentz replied.
A week from today, Oakland Hills will be open again for member play, Frentz said, with "our usual Wednesday morning group getting the first tee time." But here's a secret: The crew's daily preparations for the Ryder Cup haven't been much different from the work it puts in for its members.
"Our members have higher expectations than these guys do on a daily basis," Frentz said.
Asked what's different, Frentz smiled and, alluding to the international scope of the Ryder Cup, said: "As I got my coffee yesterday, the bomb-sniffing dogs sniffed my shoes."
At 7:10 a.m., Cook called Frentz again on his radio.
"Jeff," he said, "12 on No. 1."
Frentz smiled.
"We've been waiting for that all week," he said.
Cook was referring to a reading on the Stimpmeter, a ramp that allows for consistent and fair measurement of green speed. The distance the ball rolls, in feet, is the speed or stimp reading for the green. An 11 is fast; twelve is super fast.
"That's the Ryder Cup," Frentz said.
Back at the grounds building, a hardy buffet breakfast was set up for the crew. The morning routine will be duplicated again today, before the first four-ball match begins _ Padraig Harrington and Colin Montgomerie of Europe facing Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods of the United States.
"When the first group tees off, it will be exciting to hear the roar of the crowd," Frentz said. "We know the world of golf will be watching."
Source: Detroit Free Press