It’s not unusual to hear golfers and people in the golf industry talk about “championship conditions,” but they may not always fully understand what that means. Here are just some of the key differences between what goes into preparing a course for a championship compared to daily play or even high-level events at many facilities.
Planning
Golf course maintenance preparation is planned well in advance of any USGA championship. Planning for a championship like the U.S. Open starts years in advance. There are many, many people involved. You cannot produce true championship conditions within a few days or even a few weeks.
Workload and labor
There is much more work and labor required to get a course to championship-level conditioning. This means long hours from the maintenance staff, often in split shifts of six hours early in the morning and then coming back for another six hours or more in the afternoon into the evening. Work usually starts and ends in the dark. Additionally, there are often lots of volunteers for added help. Despite sleep deprivation, especially toward the end of a championship, an experienced golf maintenance crew performs at a steadily increasing level of performance.
Attention to detail
Virtually every detail is given attention. Putting greens are mowed and rolled more often, sometimes multiple times each day based on green speed data. Quantitative firmness data is also collected and compared from green to green. Fairways, roughs, tees and approaches are mowed at a greater frequency. There are more people involved in raking bunkers, blowing and removing debris, and countless other tasks. At the end of play, groups walk the course from tee to green with buckets of divot mix filling in all divots.
Adaptation and execution
Every golf course location is different – different grasses, different soils, different topography, different people and different or changing weather. Regardless of the best efforts of a large team, weather can impact playing conditions and day-to-day consistency in unpredictable ways. With the additional resources available at a championship, it’s usually possible to adjust to weather issues and restore acceptable playing conditions much faster than would be achievable during normal maintenance.
Experts ready to learn
USGA agronomists are involved in all USGA championships. I just finished an invigorating week at the USGA Amateur Four-Ball championship in Dupont, Washington, at the Home Course. There is a family atmosphere that develops over the long days working with the maintenance staff at a championship. For someone with 31 years of experience in this industry, I’m always learning something new each time I work at a championship. Grasses, pests, soil conditions, weather and architecture are always different and there are always some unexpected challenges.
If you have a USGA championship coming to your area, volunteer to work with the maintenance staff. It gives you great perspective and appreciation for the expertise and hard work required not only for a championship but also to produce good playing conditions day in and day out.
Southeast Region Agronomists:
Chris Hartwiger, director, USGA Course Consulting Service – chartwiger@usga.org
Steve Kammerer, Ph.D., senior consulting agronomist – skammerer@usga.org
Jordan Booth, agronomist – jbooth@usga.org