Golf
“Preparing for the US Women's Open was a fantastic experience. Such attention to detail. I’ve never known
anything quite like it”
David with Mike O’Keeffe at the Jack Nicklaus museum
consist predominantly of Poa annua and, as stated earlier, have not changed since 1921. What immediately struck me was their superb condition and, with the many undulations, would certainly test a golfer’s putting.
The special challenges at Broadmoor
are its location, the short golfing season and the quality requirements. The golf resort is situated at 2000 metres above sea level at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. There are only 400mm rain per year and around 250 days of sunshine. In addition, the area is covered with snow through December, January and February. Temperatures range from minus 7O
C in the winter to 33O C at the David with the US Women’s Open trophy
“The weather makes for very difficult care conditions, and reduces the golf season to five months”
30 PC APRIL/MAY 2013
height of summer. It is, therefore, a paradise for holidaymakers. This weather pattern makes for very difficult care conditions, and reduces the golf season to just five months. The irrigation system, therefore, plays an important role, with three staff members permanently operating the system, checking the courses several times a day to prevent dry spots. If a problem occurs, it can be taken care of immediately. I found this part of the course maintenance particularly interesting. The quality requirements are enormous. The complex is a five star resort, with green fees set at $200 throughout the season. Every tiny detail is ‘five star’ because the Americans put huge value on it.
The short season offers little
opportunity for permanent employment, so there are an incredible number of seasonal workers. Many come from Jamaica on an international work programme. There were around fifteen Jamaicans during my internship. There were also twelve trainees from the US and China working on the golf courses. All these trainees had studied turf
management at top universities in the USA. I have worked closely with some and lived with others. We had a lot of fun! Foreign cultures have always been
interesting to me, and a strong incentive to work abroad. It was great to communicate with the guys and interact. What I found very special was the
incredible natural diversity and proximity to wild animals. During my work I would often come across a herd of deer. I even got to see black bears regularly, but I never stood around to watch them for too long! These are experiences that you’ll never forget.
My placement was on the East Course.
I worked a forty hour week for most of my time there, which is unusual as most interns work on courses where a fifty hour week is the norm. Mind you, during the tournament the hours shot up to eighty a week! Preparing for the US Women’s Open was a fantastic experience. Such attention to detail. I’ve never known anything quite like it.
Such an event is planned several years in advance. The USGA organise this tournament and determine how the golf course should be set up. Every smallest detail is repeatedly discussed. We began our preparations one month
before the tournament by reducing the cutting heights across the course (except for the rough), topdressing the greens, cutting back on automatic irrigation, and many other steps. My main task, in addition to many outside activities, was hand watering and mowing the greens. During the tournament, the course had to be as dry and hard as possible, which is why less irrigation was required, and only the critical areas were hand watered. That was quite a challenge, especially as, just before the tournament, we were
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