Newport Beach Country Club Magazine Winter 2020 | Page 26

leading up to a tournament. “For instance, … when I was up at a golf course
in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, it was also on the Champions TOUR, [but
it] basically got hit with a … tornado very close by and so they had a lot of
trees that were down that we were cleaning up all of advance week. So, that’s
kind of a mini disaster because you’re trying to get this thing read for pro-
fessional golf a week later and there’s only so much time and so many bodies
to get all the work accomplished, … so it can be a challenge.”
Maloy says that one of the toughest situations is when they get hit
with high winds or heavy rain, which causes water to surface drain off
the golf course. Dey agrees that the weather dictates their approach to
water management, and attests to the fact that these things cannot be
predetermined.
“There’s a lot of those things where you’re just kind of playing it by ear.
You set a plan in place for what you want to do, but you have a Plan B and
a Plan C that you’re prepared to go in with if Mother Nature throws you a
curveball. Because Mother Nature always wins,” Dey says.
Novak notes that most of the issues they combat are weather related, such
as when there are storms and branches fall off trees that they must remove
from the green. “You can’t change her,” Novak says of Mother Nature.
It is because of this that Maloy sticks to the old Boy Scout motto: Be pre-
pared. “I always look forward to sunny skies and clear weather because then
we can get the event off without a hitch,” Maloy says.
THE NITTY GRITTY
Preparations for the tournament begin several months in advance. Prior to
this upcoming event, Dey says they were finishing a project on the seventh
hole that required time for the grass to become established as well as build
NEWPORT BEACH COUNTRY CLUB MAGAZINE
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up enough maturity and strength for the heavy traffic that inherently comes
with the Hoag Classic. Other preparations include protecting the Kikuyu
grass, planning for fertilizer and growth regulator applications as well as
verticutting the top dressing, which Dey says is because “as the temperatures
cool down, the grass growth rate slows down.”
Then, eight weeks prior to the event, Maloy visits the club to touch base
with the superintendent and get a glimpse of the golf course, including any
projects that have gone on throughout the year and any major weather con-
ditions that may have affected the grass. “We have a chance to see it and kind
of dial in or fine-tune the agronomic preparations for that eight weeks lead-
ing into the event,” Maloy says, noting that there are also plenty of things
that Dey does year-round, such as aerifications, to create the best possible
playing conditions for the membership as well.
In early January, the tournament operations team comes in to start laying
out and building structures around the golf course, which Dey says takes
about six to eight weeks. These structures include tents that require 4-foot
stakes to be placed in the ground, which can strike and burst water pipes if
their locations are not calculated precisely. Novak uses dowsing rods for this
purpose, though this method can, quite literally, be a bit hit or miss. “I’ve had,
some years, as many as 10 pipes break; it’s just bad luck,” Novak says. “The
buildup is the hardest and then the last two weeks is when everyone comes in,
so it’s the last-minute push.”
Those last two weeks are referred to as advance and tournament week, respec-
tively. “The week leading up to the tournament, we still have normal play, so all
of our members are still getting to play the golf course,” Dey explains. “For us,
we’re trying to get the last finishing touches because the start of tournament
week is when the players start to show up, and they expect to have the condi-
tions be the same, so that they can get their games calibrated to this golf course.”
These finishing touches include trimming bunkers; putting extra cuts on
the fairways, the rough and the greens; and ensuring the sand depths are
good for play.