Oakmont Superintendent, GM Recognized For Excellence


February 19, 2008

By David Shefter, USGA

Far Hills, N.J. - Getting a golf course in U.S. Open shape to test the world’s best players is no easy task. Neither is ensuring that hundreds of members, competitors, volunteers and officials are well fed and given impeccable hospitality.

John Zimmers, right, relays instructions to Oakmont Assistant Grounds Superintendent David Delsandro last May. (John Mummert/USGA)
When superintendent John Zimmers and general manager Tom Wallace reflect back on the success off the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club, each can grin and be prideful of a job well done.

Their performances did not go unnoticed. Zimmers was named the 2007 Grounds Superintendent of the Year by Turfnet magazine and the Club Car Corporation, while Wallace earned the 2007 Excellence in Club Management Award by the McMahon Group, a private club consulting firm and Club & Resort Business magazine.

“Honestly, it was a very, very big surprise,” said a humble Zimmers.

Considering the curveball Mother Nature threw at Oakmont in the months leading up to the Open, Zimmers and his grounds crew probably deserved more than just a trophy. In early March, a bizarre ice storm pummeled the Pittsburgh area. One minute the temperature was near 60; a mere 12 hours later, the mercury had dipped near zero, causing major damage to Oakmont’s precious turf.

While confident that the course would be ready in time, Zimmers certainly had all his skills as a superintendent challenged. Twelve-hour work days suddenly lasted two- to four-hours longer. Zimmers did everything in his power to save the turf, including having the greens covered at night to manufacture heat.

“You knew the whole world was going to come barreling down on you,” said Zimmers. “From our standpoint, we had done so much work here at Oakmont with the [tree-cutting] restoration, you just kind of said to yourself, ‘How can this be happening?’”

Fortunately for Zimmers, and everyone else associated with the club and championship, the weather did turn for the better. But the course was not thoroughly ready until the early part of June, just a couple of weeks prior to the Open. As a testament to the work of Zimmers and others, the course was in impeccable condition for the championship, just as it had been for the 2003 U.S. Amateur.

“I knew if we could overcome our winter issues … we could really have something special, and thank goodness it turned out the way it did,” said Zimmers. “The guys, the staff just did an incredible job. It was probably one of the most rewarding and fun times of my career. So many people get caught up with the long hours and work, but it was a really, really fun time for me.”

Wallace
Hired by Oakmont in 2002, Wallace had a completely different set of challenges. To prepare for the onslaught of people, he had his culinary and management team go to other U.S. Opens starting in 2003. The 2003 Amateur at Oakmont also served as an excellent warm-up.

The ultimate decision was that Oakmont would undertake the entire food and beverage operation without the use of an outside caterer. Satellite kitchens were constructed. Tom Pepka, the head chef, worked out a formula for how much food he would need each day. Pepka even had a plan to donate unused food to local food banks and other charities.

In the end, Wallace and his team served some 50,000 meals during Open week. Incidentally, since being hired, Wallace has seen food and beverage revenues at Oakmont double in his five years on the job (not including the Open).

“We did almost double than anyone else had done [in the past],” said Wallace. “We felt the best way to get Oakmont’s hospitality out there was to make sure we were feeding and servicing as many people as possible.

“We really wanted to set the bar for clubs in terms of how much food and beverage we were going to do and take the hospitality for the USGA and players to another level.”

Just as the U.S. Open takes championship golf to another level, Wallace and Zimmers clearly recognized the excellence that is associated with such an event. And now they rightfully reap the benefits of their hard work.

David Shefter is a staff writer for the USGA. E-mail him with questions or comments at dshefter@usga.org.