Golf
14th at RTJ
“During my time there I was challenged to my limits, working long hours and experiencing the high
expectations that a course of that stature requires”
The organisation and the amount of effort the staff put in to the programme’s success is evident as soon as you meet them. Every one was friendly and willing to go the extra mile to ensure that the new arrivals were ready and prepared for their placements. After my orientation, I knew these people wanted me to succeed, and I knew each one of them would be there for me if I needed anything. This was a great way to start in America. Next, it was on to Virginia via the east coast to begin my placement at RTJ, a course set on the edge of Lake Manassas. This is a course that has hosted no less than four Presidents Cups, the most recent in 2005.
During my time there I was challenged to my limits, working long hours and experiencing the high expectations that a course of that stature requires, with every inch manicured to perfection. I experienced everything during the summer in Virginia, weather wise. We had frosts when I first arrived, tornado warnings just before the summer started, and days that reached 120O
F (48O C) on
the heat index in July. I even got to experience Hurricane Irene at the end of August, whilst the earthquake that hit Washington DC was close enough that it made my cart shake at work! It was very tough getting used to working in high humidity and doing long hours. I could see it being a long summer but, after a few weeks, it became the norm, doing everything from cutting cups and rolling greens to spray-hawking greens or spraying fairways in the morning and then either looking after greens, checking for wilt or doing irrigation work in the afternoon. The summer months were brutal in
9th at RTJ 18 PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2013
Virginia, with July being the hottest on record! This meant one thing; long
hours! Most days we would complete morning setup, which was normally mowing greens and rolling, and then grab hoses and go into our sections and hand-water for the rest of the day, Myself and one other intern looked after holes 6-12 and, most days, it was left to just one of us to look after the greens so, from 10.00am to 6.00pm, we would be syringing seven greens every hour or so. The only time we would get a break was when the sun started to go down and the shade started to cover the greens. It was a real challenge to begin with, but one I started to enjoy and get used to as I learned how to read my greens, know what to expect, know where the hot spots were. I learned how to watch the humidity levels and how my greens would react as a result. Basically, I took a sense of ownership, pride and responsibility for my section. And, once you do that, the long hours don't matter and the time starts to fly by.
At the end of the summer, the club began work on a new 6-acre short-game facility. Watching a design being created from scratch was amazing. Contractors came in and completed most of the work, which included building three USGA spec greens and sculpting four practice bunkers, plus irrigation for the whole area. Once they had completed their work, it was time for us to seed and prep the area for the growing in stage. We sodded all the rough areas with
rough bluegrass and then seeded the fairways and greens areas with A1/A4 bentgrass. The four bunkers all had different drainage techniques. We put asphalt in one, just levelling it off leaving it porous; we used a sportcrete in another and sprayed it with isocyanate; and then a gravel layer under the isocyanate in another; and just a normal shingle
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