Time to shed the red shirt

TurfTeam breathes sigh of relief with U.S. Senior Open's conclusion

About 20 minutes of golf was played Sunday morning before officials cleared the golf course at the U.S. Senior Open. An expected weather system and rain storm delayed the final round. A shotgun start on the first and 10th tees was planned by tournament officials Saturday evening in an attempt to conclude the tournament.

During the delay, Golf Course Superintendent Stan George, CGCS, prepared the Golf Course Management Team to squeegee the course if needed. However, the rain stayed light enough that play could resume without further course maintenance.

Although the week’s golf course management plan ran on schedule without many surprises or adjustments, a few highlights in the final report are worth noting. First, a normal work week for the Prairie Dunes Golf Course Management Turf Team of 16 to 18 employees requires an average of 700 working hours to maintain the course. Compare that to this week for the U.S. Senior Open, where 75 men worked a combined total of approximately 3,350 hours over seven days. That translates to a 45-hour work week per individual. This figure does not include the two years of preparations Prairie Dunes Golf Course has done to get ready for this one week of play.

As one marshal explained the roles of the volunteers, he said, “I had a patron ask me why the volunteers wore different colored shirts and what the colors meant. I told her that the blue shirts were the marshals and they pretty much stood around with their hands up and helped with crowd control, the blue and white striped shirts were in charge of the blue shirts and helped with organizing the volunteers, the yellow shirts held the ropes and helped patrons get from one place to another, and the red shirts (the Turf Team) are the guys that do all the work.”

Serving as a member of the Turf Team was a thrill because it provided an opportunity to meet some of the game’s best golf course superintendents and players, an educational experience because it gave a close up look at exactly what it takes to put on a major golf championship, and a body-numbing routine because of the physical toll golf course maintenance at the highest level of play takes on the human body.

After being informed of the roles, responsibilities and duties carried out by the Golf Course Management Turf Team during the Senior Open, one patron put it best: “That sure is a lot of work so a bunch of guys can play four rounds of golf.”

Indeed it was, but it was worth every minute.